


Trials

by PokeThunder



Category: Young Dracula (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 25,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24086188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PokeThunder/pseuds/PokeThunder
Summary: Vlad and his girlfriend Talitha discover a mysterious amulet will visiting Romania. Drawn to the artifact, Vlad works with his sister to try to uncover it's secrets. However, the amulet proves to be difficult to control forcing Vlad to lose sight of his morals.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Sounds of digging echoed through a cave. Most everyone had gone home for the night, but two men remained, a professor and his assistant. 

“Sir, it’s really late. We should get some rest and get back at it tomorrow,” the assistant said. 

“You can go if you like, but I’m certain we are close,” the professor said. 

“I’m not going to leave you here by yourself...” Before he could argue further a sharp cling was heard after the professor hit something just below his feet. “What was that?” 

The professor dug around more which revealed a black metal box. Other than some scratches and dings, it was in good condition. He hoped that he had found something related to his theory. 

“How can you be sure it’s connected?” His assistant asked. “This cave has been explored before and could be something left from past expeditions.”

The professor frowned at his pessimistic attitude. “We can’t be sure until we study it, but look. This lettering here is ancient. This is from years beyond what we were looking for.” 

“What does it say?” 

“I’m not sure,” the professor said as he attempted to remove the lid from the box. 

Snap. The two stood frozen in time. 

“Well I was hoping those two would have left by now,” Talitha complained. 

Vlad appeared next to the professor and took the box from his hands. “At least they did the work for us.” He handed the box to Talitha for her to examine it. 

“He was right,” Talitha said. “This language is older. It’s Aramaic.” She showed Vlad pointing at the dark red lettering on the front. “You studied this right?” 

“I did,” Vlad said. “I only know some, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get it to the council.” 

“You don’t care to know why they would want this?” Talitha asked. 

“It’s the high council,” Vlad said. “It’s probably just a collectors item. They never do any real work.” 

Talitha had to agree. The council had no interest in anything other than sitting on their asses and drinking blood from a wine glass. Still, it worried her they would send for Vlad to find anything. She couldn’t figure out why he would pretend to be so uninterested. 

Talitha was about to ask what was wrong, but Vlad interrupted by saying, “Let’s go.” 

Annoyed, Talitha attempted to open the black box, but even with her vampiric strength, it wouldn't budge.

“What are you doing?” Vlad asked. 

“You’re the most suspicious person I know,” Talitha said. “If you aren’t curious about this then it bothers me, or maybe you’ve just become complacent. Either way, I want to know why they want this.” 

Talitha turned the box over and noticed a familiar symbol on the bottom.

“This is your family’s coat of arms,” she pointed. “Right?” 

He took the box from Talitha to confirm it.

“We are in Romania,” Talitha said. 

“But still hours away from where my family is from,” Vlad said. 

He pulled at the lid and it opened with ease. 

“Well I loosened it,” Talitha teased. 

Vlad pulled an amulet from the metal box. It hung on a chain and had the same symbol as on the outside.

“What’s that?” She asked. 

Vlad wasn’t sure, but it clearly belonged to his family. He had no idea how something like this ended up forgotten, deep in a constricted cave.

“We can’t take this to the council,” Vlad felt an unfamiliar power pulsing from it. 

Vlad flitted out before Talitha could get in a word. She turned to the two men who were still hypnotized. “You remember nothing. You never found anything.” 

Snap. 

Talitha disappeared to the entrance of the cave to find Vlad still examining the amulet. “If we aren’t taking it to the council then where?” 

“Not that I trust them, but I trust them more than the council,” Vlad said. “Probably to my family. Last I heard Ingrid is still at the school.” 

Talitha agreed. The amulet had something to do with the Dracula line. If the council wanted it, then they likely were doing some digging into the Dracula family. It would be disadvantageous and possibly dangerous for them to know something Vlad didn't.

Vlad put the artifact back in the box and looked at the lettering. Before he could read much of it he was alerted by the sound of something rustling in the woods.

“Slayers are here,” Vlad said. 

“I sense them too,” Talitha replied. “Let's go...” 

Suddenly, a bright light flashed just above them smashing into the rock. A UV bomb.

The slayers moved quickly surrounding both of them. They had their faces covered with darkened face shields.

“Don’t move,” a male slayer ordered. Fifteen guns pointed at them asserting his demand.

A low growl vibrated in Vlad’s throat. Talitha reflexively grabbed his hand to help relax him. He felt a little less tense after that.

The truce between slayers and vampires was dead, but having a friend within the Guild meant they normally left him alone. He figured that wouldn’t last much longer either.

“Put the box on the ground,” the slayer demanded. 

“I can’t do that,” Vlad said. 

“I know who you are, Vladimir Dracula,” the slayer said. “We aren’t here for you.”

Vlad stayed still, silent thinking. They could most likely flit away but that UV bomb had range. Their shot might manage to still hit them.

“This doesn’t have to be ugly,” the slayer continued. 

“You shot at us and now you’re pointing your guns,” Vlad argued.

The slayer eased his stance and signaled for the others to do the same. He took a few steps toward them, but kept at a comfortable distance. Vlad allowed it, but remained cautious. He focused on everyone around him listening for any sudden movements. 

The slayer removed his face shield that had previously hidden his identity. He was rather pale. Sometimes that happens to slayers as they adopt vampire habits in order to hunt for them. He had many scars on his face and hands. Most of them were dangerously close to his eyes. Vampires typically liked targeting the eyes. It was both cruel and effective in disabling an opponent, so this man must have had some close calls.

“My name is Charles,” he introduced. “I’m a captain within the Slayers Guild. I know it’s hard to believe, but we really don’t want anything to do with you. We just want the box.”

“Why?” Vlad asked. 

“I’m just a man following orders, but I do know who the professor who is studying this land is. He’s a historian who works out of a university in America. He was looking for artifacts left behind from what they believed was a religious gathering, but I think you knew all that.” 

“You’ve been watching them for hours,” Charles continued when Vlad didn’t say anything. “So you tell me. Why is that box so important?” 

Vlad shrugged, “Beats me.” 

Charles laughed, “Come on, Vladimir. Let’s not play games. We don’t have a lot of friends of your kind. Would be a shame to ruin this valuable relationship.” 

“I don’t have any sort of friendship with you,” Vlad said. 

“Vlad,” Talitha used telepathy. “Don’t make this worse.” 

“Where’s VanHelsing?” Vlad asked. “I’ll talk to him.” 

“Don’t think that will be immediately possible,” Charles said. “He’s not part of this mission.”

Vlad figured that was the case. He had no intention in cooperating with them unless both he and Talitha were guaranteed safety and there was no way he could take this slayer’s word. 

“Then tell him that if the slayers want this, he’ll have to come get it himself,” Vlad said. “He knows how to get in touch.” 

Vlad grabbed Talitha’s hand and flitted. 

“Stop them!” Charles shouted.

As they flitted away, Vlad felt a sharp pain in his side.


	2. Chapter 2

Vlad and Talitha managed to get a few miles away from the slayers, but had to stop to look at Vlad’s wound.

He sat down and slumped against a tree while Talitha moved his jacket out of the way. A large burn covered the left side of Vlad’s torso. “That doesn’t look pleasant,” she said. “It’s not healing fast enough. You can’t travel like this.”

“They’ll still be searching these woods for us,” Vlad breathed heavily. It wasn’t necessary but it helped him to cope with the pain. “You can’t stay here waiting for me to heal.”

Vlad clutched the amulet and handed Talitha the empty box.

“You take this and go,” Vlad told her. “They won’t catch you.”

“I’m not leaving you here for them to kill you,” Talitha argued.

“They won’t find me,” he said. “But if they do then at least they won’t have both of these.”

Talitha understood what he was trying to do, but she still didn’t like it, “What kind of bodyguard would I be if I didn’t protect you?”

Vlad managed a laugh, “You’re not my bodyguard anymore. I can look after myself.”

“At least tell me why we are separating them? Why is the container important?”

Vlad pointed at the lettering. While still taking deep breaths he said. “It says ‘the key will unlock the power.’ It also has my family crest. I would hardly consider it a clue but we can’t take a chance on them figuring anything out before we can.”

“Ok. I’ll go.” She finally agreed. “Be safe,” she kissed him and flitted away.

Vlad put the amulet in his jacket pocket. He looked up at the tree and focused on transforming into a bat. Finding a strong branch, he reappeared and rested on it. The greenery was thick and it was a moonless night. They wouldn't see him if they came that way looking for him.

Vlad pulled the amulet from his pocket and turned it in his hands. It looked ancient with it’s jagged edges. Despite not knowing what it was, he put it around his neck to be sure he wouldn’t lose it..

His throat felt dry. He imagined the injury had pricked his thirst. He knew what would make him heal faster, but that was never an option no matter the circumstances.

As Vlad waited his mind wandered back to the slayers. His friendship with Jonathan VanHelsing meant nothing unless the slayer was there. The rest of the Guild would gladly slay him on sight if Jonno wasn’t able to interfere.

It frustrated him that he couldn’t do anything to prevent this from happening. He barely sensed the slayers coming which was another problem. His senses weren’t as strong as before he turned 18. His powers were diminishing, again. He suspected that was due to him abstaining from drinking blood. The soy blood didn’t relieve the bloodlust anymore and he was running out of options.

Vlad checked the wound again. It had definitely healed more which was a relief, but it still hurt like he was using a sun lamp.. He wished he could make the pain stop.

“Blood...” Vlad heard a heavy voice call.

He looked around but saw no one. He thought maybe he was hearing things. He did have trouble focusing when he was experiencing bloodlust, but this wasn’t like that.

“Blood...” The voice said just a bit louder.

His eyes felt heavy and he found it hard to resist falling asleep.

* * *

When Vlad opened his eyes, he wasn’t in the forest anymore. It was so dark even his vampire eyes didn’t allow him to see much. A pool of water was in front of him below a rippling shadow

“Blood... kill...,” the voice said. The voice came from the shadow.

“What are you?” Vlad asked, trying to sound authoritative. “What do you want?”

The shadow shifted and the area lit up just a bit. Next to the water, Vlad saw a deer standing completely still.

“What?” Vlad said.

“Kill… Red… Fresh...” the voice said.

He blacked out.

* * *

Vlad woke up to Talitha shaking his shoulder. He sat up quickly and looked around confused. He was still in the woods, but he didn’t recognize his surroundings.

“Did you fall asleep here?” Talitha asked.

“I think so,” Vlad said. “What are you doing here?”

Talitha shrugged, “It’s an hour before sunrise and I got worried, so I came looking once I was sure the slayers were gone.”

Vlad wasn’t listening to her. He was trying to remember how he had gotten there in the first place. Then, worry washed over him. He tasted something metallic but soothing lingering in his mouth. The dryness in his throat was gone.

What happened? He thought to himself. Why couldn’t he remember?

Vlad was so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed Talitha was checking his wound.

“It’s fully healed,” she said. “Looks like your Chosen One abilities came through for you.”

Vlad agreed that had to have been the reason. Three hours to heal from a wound like that wasn’t unusual for him. He was more concerned about the taste in his mouth.

“So to England then?” Talitha asked, finally pulling Vlad away from his thoughts.

“Yeah,” Vlad held up the amulet. “I believe Ingrid might have the resources to help find out what this could possibly be and where it came from.”

They started their journey. Vlad had decided to not tell her about the dream until he knew more about what he was dealing with.


	3. Chapter 3

It only took one night for them to reach Garside Grange. The castle-sized building had used to be a school his father owned until the Count closed it down, eventually moved to Australia of all places, and Vlad’s sister took ownership. 

Vlad and Talitha reached the door that led to the dining/throne room. They heard Ingrid yelling on the other side and decided to listen in. 

“Will you stop with your computers? You’ve been on them all night.” Ingrid said. 

“I’m working Ingrid and you know that,” Piers said. He was Ingrid’s breather boyfriend. He knew that Ingrid was a vampire, but didn’t seem to mind it. “You have expensive taste you know and the council doesn’t pay you near as much as you deserve,” Piers seemed to know how to talk to Ingrid in a way that she still feels like she is being praised even though he was disagreeing with her. 

“I’m working on that,” Ingrid said. “I’m just bored and you are the only one around here that is at all interesting.” Ingrid referenced her half-fangs which she only ever kept around to have them worship her. 

“I’ll find time for us,” Piers promised. “Let me just finish a few more things.” 

Ingrid groaned but didn’t argue further. 

Vlad felt like now would be the best time to let them know he and Talitha were there. It was already going to be a bit awkward anyway. 

* * *

As soon as Ingrid saw Vlad, he knew he wasn’t welcome. Ingrid sat on the couch near the fire, doing her best to ignore him. 

He and Talitha decided to talk to Piers about what was going on. They caught him up on where they found the amulet and the slayer attack. Ingrid immediately got up. 

“You should have fought back,” Ingrid said angrily. 

“There were 15 slayers surrounding us,” Vlad argued. “What did you expect me to do?”

“You’re the Chosen One,” Ingrid said. “You are supposed to be all powerful, but you run from slayers.” 

“I’m still not getting why you’re angry,” he said. “You weren’t the one shot at.” 

Ingrid seemed to have a lot more to say but instead just said, “Never mind. Sun is rising. I’m going to sleep.” 

Ingrid slammed the door as she left. 

“She’s just mad at the council,” Piers explained. “They use her for publicity so the women will see how open minded they are. They don’t let her in on much.”

Talitha stood up, “I hate to do this, but I need to go and see my father for a little while.” 

She hadn’t told Vlad she would be leaving when they got there. 

“The sun is coming up,” Piers said. “How are you going to leave?” 

“I’ll mail myself,” Talitha said “Easiest way to travel during the day.” 

Piers took that as a perfectly normal explanation. 

Vlad followed her into the hall. “You didn’t say you were leaving.” 

Talitha smiled, “You have a lot of research to do and my dad has some pull with the council. He can buy you some time. Besides I haven’t seen him in a while. Would be good to see him.” 

“If you say so,” Vlad didn’t want her to go, but she had a point. The council would be contacting them soon asking about what they had found. 

“See if you can get Ingrid to keep all of this to herself and not run to the council,” Talitha said. “I know she seems angry now but maybe she can be reasoned with.” Talitha kissed Vlad. “Love you,” and she was gone.

“Love you too,” Vlad whispered. 

Vlad was about to return to the throne room when Ingrid appeared in front of him. 

“She's gone then?” Ingrid said. 

“Thought you were going to your coffin?” Vlad asked. 

Ingrid smirked. “You smell like blood.” 

Vlad hoped it had gone unnoticed since Talitha never said anything, but Ingrid wasn’t fooled. 

“What have you been up to?” She asked. 

xxx7 hours beforexxx

Vlad and Talitha had split up. Talitha went to get ingredients to make her own soy blood, and Vlad was searching around to make sure they wouldn’t run into any slayers during their travels. He was sure they would be looking for them, and he didn’t want them to surprise him again.

He still had concerns about what happened in the woods but decided to not let it bother him for now.

Vlad stopped for a moment at a bus stop just on the edge of a town staying away from any lights to stay concealed. 

He noticed a man dressed in a business suit waiting for the bus to come. Vlad was about to fly off when he heard a voice again. 

“Blood... I need it,” the voice said. 

Suspecting what was about to happen, he stepped back behind some trees to be sure he remained hidden.

He was back in front of the water. It was still dark and the figure was there, but looked different. Vlad could now see that the figure was a person. The mist formed the shape of a man but appeared transparent.

“Kill for me...” it said in a whisper. 

“Who are you?” Vlad asked. “I’m not doing anything for you until you tell me.” 

The voice laughed weakly. It appeared to be pointing somewhere and Vlad looked. There stood the man he saw at the bus stop. Vlad finally started to piece together what was happening. 

“No way,” Vlad said. “You can’t make me.” 

He suddenly felt dizzy. He held his head trying to fight it, but blacked out once again.

When he awoke he stood before a gruesome scene. The man he saw in his vision was dead at his feet and his blood covered Vlad’s hands. 

It took everything not to panic. “How could this happen?” Vlad said to himself. 

No one had seen him so he acted quickly to hide the body and wash off the blood. He looked at his watch; it had only been 45 minutes since he first found the bus stop.

Vlad looked down at the amulet he realized he was still wearing. He removed it and put it in his pocket. The moment he removed it he felt a pull to put it back on. He had no doubts that whatever was happening to him, it was the cause.

After he was sure he was clean, he hurried to meet Talitha at their meeting point. 

* * *

“Smells like fresh breather blood,” Ingrid said. “Does Talitha know?” 

“It’s not what you’re thinking, Ingrid,” Vlad said. “But no so don’t say anything.” 

Ingrid chuckled, “Fine, but you have to tell me what happened.” 

Vlad figured as much. Ingrid loved information and she loved getting on his nerves even more.

“Later,” he said. “I have to figure all this out. Want to help.” He thought Ingrid would blow him off. 

“Ok,” she said. “But no secrets. You have to let me in.” 

Why was she pushing so hard? Vlad wondered. 

“Fine, but don’t go running to the council with any information,” Vlad had no intention of revealing every detail, but he could give her a few drops of info here and there to make it seem like he was being open. 

“Why would I? They never do anything for me,” Ingrid looked annoyed. 

“You have a bad record. That’s all.” 

Ingrid hissed, “Just don’t get on my nerves while you’re here. This is my home now and I won’t hesitate to kick you out.” 

Vlad tried not to laugh. He knew it was just an empty threat. She wouldn’t admit it but she was glad he was there. 

“Missed you too, sis,” he said. 

Ingrid rolled her eyes and they returned to the throne room. 

Piers was examining the box while the amulet sat on the table. “This is Aramaic right?” 

Vlad nodded. 

“This is out of my field, but you said it translated to ‘the key will unlock the power’. Your girlfriend couldn’t open it, but you could.” 

“Are you saying Vlad is the key?” Ingrid asked. 

“Sort of,” Piers said. “I think any Dracula could be the key really.” 

Piers handed the closed box to Ingrid, “Even though the amulet isn’t in there I still can’t open it. You try.” 

Like Vlad, Ingrid opened it with ease proving Piers’s theory. 

“So the amulet is the power and Dracula blood is the key,” Ingrid said. “That sounds cliche.” 

“You said you wore it, Vlad,” Piers said. “Did anything happen?” 

Vlad shrugged, “Sort of but it wasn’t power, just really weird dreams.” 

“What sort of dreams?” Piers asked. 

Vlad told them about the two visions he had and what the mysterious man had told him. 

“So this man is telling you to kill people?” Piers said. 

“Not just people,” Vlad said. “The first vision I had showed a deer.” 

“Have you acted on this?” Piers asked. 

Ingrid’s eyes grew wide, “He has. That’s why he smells of blood.” 

Before Ingrid could start making assumptions Vlad jumped in. “I think ok? I have no memory of attacking anyone. I wake up and yes, I taste blood, but I don’t remember a thing.” 

He left out that he did wake up with a dead man at his feet.

“That’s typical,” Ingrid folded her arms. 

“So, is this amulet controlling your actions somehow?” Piers asked, holding it up. 

“I really hope not, but maybe,” Vlad said. 

Piers sighed, “Well, I guess we have a lot of work to do.”

“Hang on,” Ingrid said. “You said you were too busy with work.” 

“I am, but if you help then I’m sure all three of us can balance the workload,” Piers reached for her hand. “And this could give us a good excuse to spend more time together.” 

Ingrid pulled her hand away, “Fine, but you owe me.” 

Piers hid the amulet away so the half-fangs wandering around wouldn’t find it.


	4. Chapter 4

Vlad woke up with a serious headache. He had a lot of strange dreams but thankfully he didn’t see the man again. He did dream of his family. They were being tortured. He couldn’t see who it was torturing them. He looked down at his wrists and saw he was in chains. Panicked, he screamed for them. 

Vlad’s eyes snapped open. He’d had the dream before but it never came true. He hoped it never would. 

The sun had set not too long before he woke up. He walked out of his old room where he was staying and ran into Ingrid in the hall. 

“Sleep well?” Ingrid asked. 

“You don’t care,” Vlad said. 

Ingrid smirked. “I’m going out.” 

“You’re not going to help?” he asked. 

“When I get back,” she said. “I’m thirsty. You can come if you like.” 

“I’m fine.” 

Ingrid laughed, “Just because you don’t remember killing anyone doesn’t mean you can’t feel the effects of it. Feels good doesn’t it?” 

Vlad rolled his eyes. It wasn’t the first time Vlad had drank human blood, but it had been a while since then. Of course it felt good. More than good, he felt stronger than ever, but he wasn’t going to tell Ingrid that because it didn’t matter. He still had his morals.

“Just go, Ingrid,” Vlad said. “My views haven’t changed.” 

“We’ll see,” Ingrid flitted off. 

Vlad walked into the throne room to find Piers already working. The amulet sat next to him as he worked on his laptop amidst a fort of books.

One of Ingrid’s half-fangs stood behind Piers watching. 

“What are you doing?” Vlad asked, trying to hide his irritation

The half-fang turned around surprised. “I’m sorry, I just came to see if Ingrid needed anything but she wasn’t here.”

“Jessica, you know you have to knock before entering,” Piers looked over his shoulder surprised by his observer.Vlad realized he probably didn’t know Jessica was even standing there. 

“I’m sorry,” Jessica said again. “I just... forgot.” 

Vlad recognized the girl. She had been one of Ingrid’s half-fangs since back before Sethius made an appearance. 

“Ingrid is about to go hunting,” Vlad told her. “Why don’t you go and join her.” 

Jessica smiled, “You think she would allow that?” 

“Just tell her I told you that you could.”

“Thank you, Vlad,” she bowed nervously.

“You don’t have to do that with me,” he said. “I’m not very formal.” 

She started to leave. 

“Jessica,” Vlad stopped her and looked in her eyes. “Whatever you saw Piers researching, you don’t remember it.” Vlad snapped his fingers, “You can go now.” 

Jessica looked a little dazed but left anyway. 

“Ingrid isn’t going to like that you did that,” Piers said. “She doesn’t care to take her followers out with her.”

“She can deal with it one time,” Vlad said. “How’s it going?” 

“Not that well,” Piers sighed. “But I did find something interesting. I wasn’t here when all of this happened but Ingrid told me this all feels familiar to her.” 

“What did she mean by that?” Vlad asked as he looked at the amulet. 

“The language, the use of blood, an unknown figure” Piers tapped each finger as he went down the list. “You’re involved. She wondered if this might have any connection to Sethius.” 

“Sethius was dusted,” Vlad said. 

“I know, but it’s an interesting theory. I’m not sure how you would feel about this, but I feel like we will need to do some experimentation to get to the bottom of this,” Piers said. 

“Meaning?” Vlad frowned. 

“Would you be willing to wear the amulet again?” Piers said. 

“That’s not ideal,” Vlad said. “People get hurt and I never remember what happens so I’m not sure how that would help.”

“Maybe you could get the man to talk?” Piers asked. 

“Not likely,” Vlad said. “His vocabulary seems very limited.”

Piers tilted his head, “Vlad, are you ok? You’ve been staring at the amulet since Jessica left.”

Vlad hadn’t realized it and forced himself to look at Piers. 

“I’m fine,” Vlad said. “Didn’t sleep well.” 

Piers sighed, “Just curious, but once you know more about this amulet, what do you plan to do with it?” 

“I kind of need to know what it is first, but I might just have it destroyed,” Vlad said. “It’s definitely not something I want the council to have.” 

“And you’ll just leave after?” Piers asked.

“Why do you ask?” Vlad frowned.

“I guess it’s not my place to say,” Piers said. “It’s between you and Ingrid.”

“Is this about what she was saying earlier?”

“Could you please just get Ingrid to talk to you? She’s really worried about the council, but she’s too proud to admit that she needs your help.”

“Help with what?” Vlad asked. 

“They have no intentions of making your world, the vampire world, any better. They never did,” Piers said. 

“That’s not news,” Vlad said. 

“You really should talk to Ingrid about what’s going on with the council,” Piers said. “Please?”

“Fine,” Vlad pointed at all the work Piers had laid out. “Let’s just focus on the amulet right now.”

They read through at least 10 books on ancient artifacts and searched what felt like 100 websites, but Piers was right. There wasn’t much there to find. Vlad wanted to avoid ever wearing the thing again, but he worried now that he might have to. 

Ingrid finally returned just a couple hours before sunrise. 

“Don’t you ever order any of my half-fangs to do anything,” Ingrid said. “Especially, to follow me anywhere.”

Vlad expected her reaction but just ignored her. 

“Any luck,” she asked.

“Not really,” Piers said. “Can’t find anything about any sort of artifact like this. It’s like no one knew it existed.”

“Did you tell Vlad about Sethius?” Ingrid asked.

“Yes, but even if they are somehow connected I can’t find any way for that to help us,” Piers answered.

“Then what now?” Ingrid asked Vlad. “Do you want to just wear the thing and see what happens?”

“I already told Piers that I want to avoid that,” Vlad said. 

“What would happen if I wear it?” Ingrid asked. “I could open the box.” 

She had a good point, Vlad thought. And she is far less concerned if she killed someone.

“If it works,” Vlad said.

“I’m not sure I’m ok with that,” Piers said. “You have no memories of what happened and probably had no way of defending yourself. What if you’re caught by a slayer, Ingrid?” 

“Not to mention if the guy wants you to kill Piers,” Vlad just realized. 

“What if he tells you to kill Piers,” Ingrid said.

For the first time since he met Ingrid, Piers started to get a bit worried about his own life. “So either way I might lose in this situation,” he said. 

All three were unsure of what to do. 

“We could call dad,” Vlad realized he said it out loud. 

“No way,” Ingrid said.

“He might know something we don’t,” he said. 

“I have to agree with him,” Piers said. “We’re stumped.”

“I don’t want him here,” Ingrid said. “I’m finally rid of him.”

“You said that about Vlad when he left,” Piers said. “You aren’t throwing him out.”

“It really couldn’t hurt, and once this is over I’ll be gone and I’ll make sure dad leaves too,” Vlad said.

Ingrid rolled her eyes, “Whatever.” 

“I’ll get in touch with him,” Vlad said. 

“It’s late and I still have my normal work to do, we can talk more tomorrow night,” Piers yawned.

Ingrid left the two of them alone.

Vlad sent his father a telepathic message letting him know he was needed. When he opened his eyes again Piers mouthed the words, “talk to her.”

Vlad rolled his eyes and followed her.

“You doing ok?” Vlad asked his sister. “Is the council still giving you a hard time?”

“Like you care,” Ingrid scuffed. 

“I do care and you know that,” Vlad said.

“Not about what matters,” Ingrid said. “Clans are being dusted left and right. The council doesn’t give a damn about them and you are just as bad as they are.”

“The clans don’t want my help,” Vlad said.

“You know that’s not true,” Ingrid said. “The council doesn’t want you to help them. They don’t want you to take their power from them.” 

“You’re on the council. You can do something.”

“I’m a girl,” Ingrid rolled her eyes. “They don’t care what I have to say. You’re the Chosen One. It’s your responsibility.”

“I never wanted that responsibility,” Vlad said.

“That doesn’t change a thing,” Ingrid said. “We’re not kids anymore, Vlad. This isn’t about good or evil or morals. This is about our people dying and you not caring.” 

Ingrid was right. He didn’t care. He hated vampires and he wanted nothing to do with them.

“Tell me there’s a point to helping you with this thing,” she said. “What will this change? It just seems like the same thing we always do. Something gets dragged into our lives and now we have to destroy it. Then we just go back to doing whatever the hell we want while thousands die.”

“Since when do you care about anyone?” Vlad asked. 

“Wake up, breather boy,” Ingrid said. “I’ve always cared. I’ve just grown so tired of pretending I don’t. I believe my purpose in this unlife is to help women be seen as equals even if I never am,” she continued. “Yours is to help us have a fighting chance at surviving. This isn’t about what either of us want anymore.” 

Vlad understood what she was saying, but helping the clans would mean helping vampires to be more free to hunt breathers and he just wasn’t willing to do that. He already accepted that he couldn’t convince them to abstain from killing, but maybe there was something about the amulet that could solve that problem.

When Vlad didn’t respond Ingrid rolled her eyes. “You just don’t get it,” she walked away to her room.

Vlad went back to the throne room to find Piers putting away his tech. 

“You’re right,” Vlad said. “Experimenting on this thing is really our only option right now.”

Piers smiled, “Ok, but before that I would like to ensure my own safety.” 

* * *

Vlad followed Piers up to what he called his lab. It was actually the Count’s old room. It was packed with monitors and computer parts.

Piers pulled out a box from under one of the tables. “I have a few things in here I use to keep Ingrid's half-fangs away,” he said. He pulled out some spray cans and what looked like weapons. 

“Is this slayer stuff?” Vlad asked. 

“Nope,” Piers said. “I invented these. They don’t kill vampires. Just deter them from wanting to bite me.” 

Piers held up the spray can, “This is garlic cologne. Very potent.” Piers seemed way too excited to be showing him this stuff. He held out what looked like a toy gun. “This is a UV gun of my own design. Hurts a good bit but even a perfect shot to the heart won’t dust a vampire.” 

Vlad didn’t like the idea of Piers using any sort of weapon on him but he understood why he felt the need to have them. 

“So what now?” Vlad asked. 

Piers held up the can of garlic cologne and the amulet. “I’m going to douse myself in cologne and once you can’t stand the smell of me anymore, you wear this again.” 

“Sounds risky,” Vlad said. 

“Everything to do with vampires is risky,” Piers handed Vlad the amulet as he started spraying the cologne on his arms and neck. 

Vlad tried to ignore the smell, “you sure about this?” 

“Are you?” Piers said. “Have you considered that you might kill someone?” 

Vlad hoped that with the sun coming up he wouldn’t leave the building. Perhaps, he could even talk to the man residing in the amulet and prevent the man from forcing Vlad to act against his own will.

“I’m never sure really,” yet he put the amulet around his neck and they waited. Vlad heard the voice only seconds later. 

“Help me...” the voice said. 

“What is it?” Piers said seeing the worried look on his face. 

Before Vlad answered his eyes closed and almost fell over. Piers caught him and helped him lean against the wall. 

“Hope this works,” Piers said to himself. 

* * *

Vlad again found himself at the same location as before. He wondered if the place was part of the dream world. Everything there felt so real.

The figure was in the same place as always but he looked more complete than before. That immediately confirmed what Vlad had suspected

“Are you using me to get blood so you’ll be stronger?”

The man, who now had eyes burning blood red, ignored Vlad. And pointed. 

“No!” Vlad shouted. “I’m not going to look until you tell me what’s happening and what you want.” 

“Blood...” he said.

“Yeah. I got that,” Vlad said. “Can you say anything else?” 

The man seemed to consider this, “If you help me, then I will help you.”

That wasn’t what Vlad was hoping to hear. “I can’t help you until you tell me more.” 

The man laughed. “You will have to trust me.” 

Yeah right, Vlad thought to himself, yet his curiosity overcame his better judgement and his gaze shifted to what was not one, but three targets.

Vlad’s eyes widened, “No.” 

* * *

“You good?” Piers asked. “What happened?” 

Piers didn’t like the look he saw in Vlad’s eyes. He had seen it in Ingrid’s many times when her cravings started to become overwhelming, but for Vlad it seemed like he was more in a trance.

“Can you hear me?” Piers asked. 

Vlad stood up in one motion and never once looked at Piers. He wasn’t sure Vlad was aware Piers was in the room but he still readied his weapon just in case. 

“Vlad, I need you to talk to me,” Piers warned. 

That never happened though. Vlad transformed into a bat and flew out the window before Piers could react. 

“Shit,” Piers cursed.


	5. Chapter 5

Piers pulled on Ingrid’s arm and led her down to his van. He floored it as they drove around looking for Vlad.

“You two were idiots to try this,” Ingrid said from the passenger seat. “The sun will be up any minute.” 

“I realize that now,” Piers said. 

“Did he say anything before he left?” 

“No, he just looked…,” Piers wanted to avoid using the phrase bloodthirsty. “Not like himself. Freaked me out a bit.” 

“Great,” she folded her arms.

“At least I got the UV filters installed in the van,” Piers tried to find a bright side. 

Ingrid closed her eyes. 

“Are you going to sleep?” Piers asked. 

“No, I’m trying to see if I can reach him telepathically,” Ingrid was silent for two minutes before her eyes flashed open. “Found him, drive down this road for a few miles and pull over.” 

Piers did what she asked and she got out of the van. Ingrid could see light beginning to creep over the horizon as the birds started their morning chirping.

“Stay here,” Ingrid told Piers. “Just in case.” Piers figured she meant just in case Vlad might kill him.

Ingrid hurried to search the wooded area. She could sense her brother was nearby.

Ingrid heard the sound of hearts pounding. Unsure of who it was she hid behind a tree. Taking a peek, she saw yellow vests with “Police” written on the back. 

Why are they here? Ingrid wondered. 

She felt someone grab her shoulder and forced herself not to jump.

Vlad signaled for her to be quiet. He didn’t appear to be in any sort of trance like Piers described. 

Vlad closed his eyes and Ingrid watched the policemen. They all relaxed and Vlad snapped his fingers. They all walked away. 

“You don’t need to voice your commands?” Ingrid whispered. 

“Not if I send it telepathically,” Vlad said. 

Ingrid had never considered sending telepathic messages to hypnotize people. Vlad was smarter than she had given him credit for. 

Ingrid led him back to the van, Piers started their drive back and Ingrid started her questions. 

“So what happened?” She asked. “Do you remember?” 

“Not much,” Vlad said. 

“What did the man tell you?” 

“He said if I help him then he will help me,” Vlad sighed. “Whatever that means?” 

“Did you kill anyone?” Piers asked while continuing to look forward.

Vlad was solemn for a moment. “I believe so.” 

“Why were the police there?” Ingrid asked. 

“I didn’t know why they were there at first,” Vlad said. “But I believe at the time you saw them they were looking for their other officers.” 

Ingrid’s eyes widened and she turned in her seat to look at her brother, “You killed a police officer?!” 

“Not by choice, and more than one,” Vlad said “Possibly three.” 

“That’s going to get media attention,” Ingrid raised her voice. “Please tell me they won’t find the bodies.” 

“I don’t think they will. When I came to the bodies were still there so I was aware of what was going on starting at that point.” Vlad looked out the window hoping they could drop the topic for now. 

Ingrid was silent for a moment, only a moment, “So what was it like waking up to three bodies in front of you?” 

“Horrible,” Vlad said. 

“What do we do about the police?” Piers said. “This happened only a few miles from Garside. They might come around to ask questions.” 

“I’ll handle it,” Ingrid said. 

Ingrid looked back behind her to see Vlad had fallen asleep. She knew this was probably eating him up, but wondered why he was still going through with it, especially after she volunteered to wear the amulet herself.

She allowed herself to become a bit emotional earlier intentionally because she knew he would respond to her then. His human side made him sympathetic. Whether the amulet would have any part in getting Vlad to help their people she wasn’t sure, but she planned to use the time she had with her little brother to pick his brain and hopefully convince him to see reason. 

She hadn’t cared about what Vlad did before, but she now worried about her own unlife. She could take care of herself for the most part but if the slayers got strong enough they would likely over take her and her half-fang army. 

When they arrived back at Garside they all hoped to get some rest, but they all realized they had forgotten something when they entered the throne room.

* * *

“Well I really don’t care for what you’ve done with the place, Ingrid,” The Count looked up at a painting of his daughter placed above the fireplace. “It’s a bit tacky.” 

Renfield stumbled in overburdened with five different bags all belonging to the Count.

The Count saw his favorite child, “Vladdy!” He rushed over to hug him. Vlad forgot he called for him.

When the Count pulled away, he caught a familiar scent, “You stink of breather.” 

“That’s me, dad,” Ingrid said. “I was out hunting and it started getting really close to sunrise so Vlad came to find me. Must have rubbed off on him.” 

“Of course,” the Count rolled his eyes. “You should be smart enough not to be out so close to sunrise.” He continued to examine more of his former home. 

Vlad turned to his sister for an explanation. 

“I don’t care to hear the ‘yay, Vladdy killed a breather’ celebrations,” she whispered. 

“How did you get here so fast from Australia?” Vlad asked.

“I wasn’t in Australia,” the Count said. “I was visiting a friend in Scotland. So what is the favor you needed from me?” The Count asked. 

“It can wait until tomorrow,” Vlad was exhausted and not willing to deal with his dad right now. 

“Fine,” the Count said. “But let’s make this quick, I’ve got a cruise next week.” 

“Vampires go on cruises?” Piers asked. 

“Well I heard many breathers go and stay up late into the night partying,” The Count said. “Which allows me to sample the many different cuisines offered on board.” 

“Where should I take these bags, Master?” Renfield asked.

“To my old room,” the Count asked. 

“Not an option,” Ingrid smiled. “That’s Piers’s office now. There’s a guest room in the west wing.” 

“You gave my room to a breather?” The Count’s voice deepened. 

Ingrid held up her hand, “This is my house now. My rules.” She had always wanted to say that to him.

The Count’s eyes turned red. 

“You guys enjoy your reunion.” They hadn’t heard Vlad which was fine. He returned to his room to try and sleep.

* * *

Vlad woke up that evening with another headache. He went into the throne room and found Renfield there setting out a place at the table.

“Evening, Renfield,” Vlad said. 

“Good Evening, Master Vlad,” Renfield responded. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Setting out the Master’s dinner. He likes for me to have it ready when he wakes up now.” 

Vlad sat at the table and rubbed his head hoping the headache would subside. 

“You alright, Master Vlad?” Renfield stopped working. 

“Just had some weird dreams last night,” Vlad sat up.

Renfield looked over his shoulder like he was checking to see no one else was there, “Master Vlad, can I ask you something?” 

Vlad looked confused, “Always.” 

“You wouldn’t be hunting breathers now, would you?” 

Vlad was alarmed, “Why do you think that?” 

Renfield quickly retreated unsure of what to say. 

“Renfield,” the Count appeared in the doorway. “Go get me a bottle from the cellar.” 

Renfield bowed, “Yes, Master.” He left the father and son alone. 

“Who told you?” Vlad asked.  
  
“Ingrid after you left,” the Count said.

Vlad couldn’t say he was surprised. The Count sat at the table across from him. 

“How much did she tell you?” Vlad asked. 

“She mentioned this unusual amulet is controlling your actions.” 

Vlad pulled the artifact out of his jacket pocket and tossed it to his dad who fumbled it in the air a moment before finally recovering the catch and a small piece of his pride.

“Interesting,” the Count turned it in his hands and set it on the table in front of him. “Where did you get it?” 

“Romania. Few hours from where we used to live.” 

The Count nodded. He had a worried look on his face as he looked around the room. 

“Do you know what it is?” Vlad asked. 

“I have a strong theory,” the Count stood up and picked up one of the books Vlad and Piers looked through before. He tossed it to Vlad who wasn’t looking but managed to effortlessly catch it. It was a book containing all the names and background of the Dracula family. 

“Our family is very old, Vladimir,” the Count said. “We always lived in the Transylvania area.” 

“You’ve told me,” Vlad said, mostly annoyed with his headache. 

“We have dealt with some ancient and dark magic in the past,” the Count continued. “Now I don’t know who this man is, but if he’s residing within this artifact then I want nothing to do with him. We need to dispose of it.” 

The Count walked away as if that was the end of the conversation. 

“I thought that too,” Vlad said, staring at the fireplace. “But then he said something about helping me. I don’t know what he means by that.” 

“I don’t either, Vladimir, but you need to forget about it.” 

“Whenever you try to drop a conversation you know more than what you are saying,” Vlad said. 

The Count sighed, “It’s only a legend. I thought Sethius, but I’m not sure now.” He sat back down and leaned forward. “It is thought that some of the eldest vampires were imprisoned for murdering the first vampire ruler. Each of the ones involved were the leaders of their own families and clans. No one knows which clans the leaders were from, but any of the oldest families are suspected. Including ours. After Sethius made an appearance the legend became a bit more clear and all the more likely.”

Vlad thought his dad's theory seemed to make sense. “So you think this man is a Dracula?” 

“Maybe,” the Count said. “But that doesn’t matter cause you aren’t going to pursue this any further.” 

“I don’t think we should just forget about this,” Vlad said. 

The Count leaned his head back and groaned. “Why?” 

“It’s hard to explain,” Vlad said “I just feel like we should at least find out what it is he wants.” 

Ever since he and Talitha found the amulet he felt so conflicted and unsure of himself. More than usual. It got worse after his girlfriend had to leave and he wished she was there with him to help sort it out. He felt better after he was forced to drink blood but it only helped for a moment. 

“Vladimir, this is messing with your head,” his father pointed out. “If he can control the actions of the Chosen One ... I just don’t see this ending well for any of us.” 

“I don’t think that’s it.” Vlad knew something was causing him to experience the memory loss but he just wasn’t sure how this man who appeared so weak could accomplish something like that.

“He’s making you go against your own beliefs.” The Count threw his arms out. “You refused to touch a breather for years, but now this man just says “I’ll help you. I won’t tell you with what but I’ll help you.” and now let’s just let that all fly out the window.”

“I’m not wanting to go against any of my beliefs here. I’m hoping we can figure out how to stop him from controlling me,” Vlad said. 

The Count groaned. “This is a bad idea, but fine.” 

Renfield walked in carrying a glass and a bottle of blood. 

“What took you so long?” The Count asked. 

“The cellar is all the way downstairs,” Renfield said. 

“That’s not really a problem for you though. You have super speed now.” 

“Oh,” Renfield poured his master a drink and handed it to him. 

The Count sipped the warm blood and sighed. Vlad’s senses were overwhelmed when he smelled the smooth liquid.

“Want some?” The Count offered Vlad the glass. “Probably would help that headache of yours.”

Vlad rolled his eyes and flitted off back to Piers’s lab. 

The Count laughed. “Always so stubborn.” 


	6. Chapter 6

“What’s that?” Vlad pointed at a large leather and black wristband set next to a few of Piers’s other inventions. It looked plain on the outside, but underneath he saw green lights blinking and wiring.

“It’s for tracking,” Piers explained. “It gives off a signal linked to my computer. I can find the wearer no matter where they are.”

“I think the wearer would notice if someone put a bulky thing like that on their wrist?”

“It’s not meant to be secretive,” Piers explained. “I made these for both me and Ingrid to wear. Just in case something happened to either one of us, but Ingrid is a bit too proud to wear one. She said she could use her senses to find me.” 

Vlad shrugged, “Well she’s right.” 

Piers rolled his eyes. He pulled a sheet off a cage revealing a pigeon. He held the pigeon in his hands. “Open the window for me.” 

Vlad snapped his fingers and the window flew open. 

Piers let the pigeon go and sat down in front of his computer. “Cross is wearing a miniature version of the technology.” He pulled up a map with a flashing red dot moving across. “This map gives me her exact location in real time no matter how far she manages to get from me. Can your senses do that?” 

Vlad shook his head. “Not that fast anyway.”

“Your kind needs to embrace modern technology,” Piers said, moving to stand by the window and holding his hand out. Cross landed to retrieve the treat from Piers’s hand. “Your powers can’t do everything for you.” 

“I realize that but most vampires are too proud to admit it,” Vlad said. “You said that about Ingrid just now.” 

Piers put Cross back in her cage, “I know. Makes me worry about her.” 

“So you’re doing all of this for Ingrid?” Vlad asked “All these inventions?” 

“I’ve always loved computers and technology,” Piers said. “It’s nice to have a reason to pursue it.” 

“You don’t mind her killing people?” Vlad asked. 

Piers sighed, “I don’t really have a family. All I’ve done since I left school was buy, sell, and repair computers. And of course game design. As cheesy as it sounds, she gave me a purpose.” 

Vlad smiled. He was glad his sister had someone who thought of her so highly and it wasn’t because she made them believe she was a queen or whatever. Piers seemed to really like Ingrid. 

“But to answer your question, I do mind,” Piers said. “I wish she didn’t feel the need to kill people, but she does. I don’t know what it means for me that I still love her anyway. Maybe I’m just as twisted as she is.” 

They sat in silence for a while. Piers worked on one of his projects while Vlad studied the book his dad had tossed him. The oldest recorded Dracula was born in the 1100’s, but the Count suggested the man in the amulet had existed even before then. He never thought much of his lineage. His father took pride in it, but whenever he would tell his stories Vlad would tune him out. 

Vlad knew when he was a preteen that he didn’t have much pride in anything. It had more to do with self loathing than self confidence. He always hated what he was even at the highest points of his unlife. He hoped that by knowing he was half human it would help him understand himself better but it had only made things more complicated being trapped between the two worlds. Knowing why he was so different didn’t make dealing with it any easier. 

“You ok?” Piers asked. 

Vlad realized he was staring off into space. He wasn’t sure for how long. “I’m fine. Just thinking about a few things.”

Vlad normally didn’t open up to many people. He mostly only confided to two others before, Robin and Erin. He kept some stuff even from Talitha, but he felt he could trust Piers somewhat and he decided he needed to talk to someone.

“I was just thinking about how I wish things were more simple,” he said. 

Piers chuckled, “Doesn’t seem like simple and vampires ever mix well.” 

“I know. I mean that I wish my options were simple. I feel like no matter what choices I make they will always be the wrong ones.” 

“You seem like the type of person who thinks too hard,” Piers said. “Sometimes it’s better to not think too much and just do the thing that feels most right to you. Can you think of one time you’ve ever done that?” 

Vlad did think back and there was one occasion in recent memory, “When I gave up the opportunity to become human.”

“That was to save your family right?” Piers said. “And things turned out alright after that.”

He didn’t regret remaining a vampire. His family needed him and he wanted to help. When it came to his family, deciding to protect them was a bit easier than other decisions he faced. He would do almost anything for them, but he refused to be what they wanted him to be.

Ingrid appeared in the room. “Family meeting.”

“Why did you tell dad the amulet was controlling me?” 

“You were going to have to tell him eventually,” she said. “Besides you were the one that invited him here.” Ingrid grabbed Piers hand and flitted to the throne room. Vlad followed.


	7. Chapter 7

Vlad, Ingrid, the Count, and Piers all sat at the table discussing what to do with the black amulet. It sat in the opened box on the table as Vlad once again stared at it.

“So destroying the thing isn’t an option for now,” the Count reminded everyone. “But we can’t risk it meddling with Vlad’s mind any further.”

“It only seems to do anything if I wear it,” Vlad said. “Nothing has happened since last night.” 

“So someone has to wear it if we are going to figure out what this man wants then,” the Count said. 

“He probably just wants out,” Ingrid said. “He’s a prisoner in there right? Just like that lunatic Sethius. Him saying he wants to help Vlad was probably a lie. If we do as he asks and let him out then he’ll probably just try to kill us, steal the Dracula name like Malik, Remanga, Boris…” 

Vlad wanted to agree with her but each time he spoke to the man he never gave off a vibe that he was hostile toward Vlad. Manipulative maybe, but he didn’t give off that same energy Vlad felt from the others Ingrid mentioned. “There has to be some way we can find out more.” 

“I could still wear it,” Ingrid said, curious of its power. “If I space out too then we find another option.” 

“I’m not too comfortable with that,” Piers said.

“No one asked for your opinion, breather,” said the Count, spitting out breather like an insult.

“Dad!” Vlad and Ingrid said in unison.

“I’ll be fine,” Ingrid said to Piers. “You have your tracking technology. We can use it if that makes you feel better.” 

“That would, but that’s not what I mean,” Piers said. “I researched other ancient artifacts and Ingrid has told me all she knows. These things tend to latch onto whoever uses it and makes it risky if not impossible for anyone else to try and use.” 

“You’re referring to things like the Crown of Power,” Vlad said. “How do you know this will be like that?” 

“I don’t. But do we take that risk?” Piers said. 

“We already tested the box and found that anyone with Dracula blood can open it,” Ingrid argued.

“Sure, but that is just something to protect the artifact, and if you wore it first maybe it would have bonded to you,” Piers said.

“How do you know if it binds to anyone?” She asked. 

“Because of what Vlad said.”

“What did I say?” Vlad looked confused. 

“You say you feel like we should pursue studying this thing and find a way to better communicate with the man who seems to live in it,” Piers explained. “You can’t tell us and probably don’t even know yourself why you feel that we should, and you trust your own gut feelings. That’s a sign that you might be drawn to it.” 

“So you believe only Vlad should wear it then?” The Count asked. 

“Well, maybe even he shouldn’t wear it if we don’t know what will happen,” Piers said. 

“So great, back to square one,” Ingrid rolled her eyes. 

“Maybe there’s someone else to reach out to about this?” Piers suggested. 

“No,” the Count said. “It’s only a legend, but this gives the council leverage to accuse our family of being involved in the slaying of the first vampire ruler. We can't let this information leave this house. They already despise us and would do anything to keep Vlad from the title of Grand High Vampire.” 

“That’s probably why they wanted it in the first place,” Ingrid said. “So why send Vlad to retrieve it?”

Vlad shrugged, “They just told me that it would lead breathers to believe in the existence of vampires and that we needed to obtain it to keep our existence a secret.” 

“I was told the same thing when we had a formal meeting on it,” Ingrid said.

“Regardless, we still need to make a decision here,” the Count said.

Vlad struggled with the whole situation. He had so many questions beyond just what the man wanted. He needed to know why he was losing control of his bloodlust. More so he was scared that he was struggling to care. He hadn’t felt remorse for what he had done. He tried his usual tactics of thinking about their families and the lives he potentially ruined. It wasn’t right.

He knew none of the answers would be worth putting his family in danger again. “Maybe it would be better to destroy it.”

“Changing your mind?” Ingrid asked. 

“It’s way more trouble than it’s worth. If dad thinks the council could use it against us then we should be sure they never get their bloody hands on it right?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“It’s settled then,” the Count stood up swiftly holding his hand out toward the amulet. His eyes glowed red as he focused his power to destroy the artifact.

Images flashed through the Counts mind. He saw eyes glowing blue, scenes of war, men lying dead in pools of blood and vampires being dusted. He heard evil laughter and shouting. Nothing he saw was familiar to him.

The Count yelled out and grabbed the arm of a chair to steady himself. Renfield hurried to steady his master.

“What was that?” Vlad looked at his father, panicked. 

The Count turned to look at his son still gripping the couch. “You saw that too?”

“I think I did too,” Ingrid held one hand up to her forehead. 

Suddenly, a loud screech filled the room deafening all the vampires. Piers could barely stand it either. 

“WAIT!” Someone said. 

“What the hell was that?” exclaimed Ingrid, who had nearly fallen out of her seat, as she tried to compose herself. 

Vlad stared at the center of the table where the amulet now gleamed crimson. “How?” He whispered. 

“Listen to me,” a voice came from the necklace. Vlad recognized it as the man from before. It sounded far less raspy now and more commanding.

“You can’t destroy this vessel,” the voice said. “There is too much at stake here.” 

“Who are you?” Vlad asked. 

“I am one of the first of our kind. Son of the first ruler. I am known as Dracula.” 

The Count celebrated, “I knew it.” 

“How are you doing this?” Vlad asked. “Why haven’t you spoken to me before?” 

“I now have enough power thanks to your generosity,” the voice said. “But I can not escape this prison unless you provide me with more.” 

“You can forget that,” Vlad said. “Why should we help you anyway?” 

“I already told you,” the man said. “If you help me, then I will help you. I know why you are chosen and how you were chosen. I can answer all of your questions.” 

“How do you know Vlad is the Chosen One?” Ingrid asked.

“Because I was there when the prophecy was first told,” he said. 

“So tell me now,” Vlad said. 

“I’m not a fool. I won’t just tell you what you want without you first assisting me.”

“So how are you controlling me?” Vlad asked. 

The man laughed. “Control you? I am not controlling anything. The amulet is influential, drawing in the one who wears it. It can cause the user to lose their mind, but that should not be happening to the Chosen One. I sense an outside force that I’m not familiar with.” 

Everyone looked just as confused as Vlad. 

“You must wear the amulet while drinking the blood of the living so that I can regain my power and form. It also allows me to communicate with you. Along with imprisoning me, that is all it does.” 

Ingrid glared at Vlad. 

“So will you continue to help me?” The man said. 

“Is it true that only Vlad can wear the amulet and help you?” The Count said. 

“Yes and no. As I said, the user can lose their mind. If the Chosen One wears it then there is far less risk of that.”

“We’ll get back to you on this,” Vlad said.

“Wear the amulet and set me free. You know you must,” the red glow faded and the man was silent. 


	8. Chapter 8

Vlad, Ingrid and Piers all returned to the lab. The Count guarded the amulet in the throne room and continued research through the books they had.

"So you were lying this whole time," Ingrid paced the room.

"I wasn't lying," Vlad rubbed his eyes and leaned against the wall. "I don't have any memory of killing anyone."

"He said he wasn't controlling you."

"And you believe him?" Vlad said.

"Vlad, if there is something you aren't telling us then you need to speak up," Piers said.

"I've told you everything," Vlad insisted.

Ingrid stepped inches from Vlad's face to intimidate him, "Tell us or I throw you out. That was the deal."

Vlad hissed, "Try it."

"Don't you dare touch her," Panicked, Piers picked up one of his guns and pointed it at Vlad. "Don't make me use this on you."

It was rare a breather ever threatened him. It was annoying and Vlad desperately wanted to put Piers in his place, but he ignored the urge.

"Fine," Vlad retracted his fangs and stepped away from his sister. "I don't know if this is relevant, but my body isn't affected by soyblood anymore. It doesn't strengthen me and it barely suppressed the cravings like before."

Piers put his gun down, "How long has it been like this?"

"It started right after I turned 18, but it has gotten a whole lot worse the last couple months," Vlad explained.

"Why would you keep this a secret?" Piers said.

Vlad guessed it was that he had a reputation for resisting blood. It was the only way the slayers ever took him seriously at all. He had proven vampires could survive without it, but if he had to have real blood now then maybe he was wrong.

"This is why I can't stand you," Ingrid said. "Instead of accepting what you are, you'd rather fight it even if you know that's not in any of our best interest."

"It's in the best interest of humans," Vlad argued.

"That's crap," Ingrid said. "What have they ever done for you? You may be half-human, but you were raised by a vampire, you've lived as a vampire, and you always will be a vampire."

Vlad wasn't going to argue with her. He had heard this speech a million times and was bored of it.

"Back to what we were talking about," Piers said, trying to pull their attention back on him. "The vampire in the amulet said he sensed a different force. Like it wasn't part of the artifact."

"So?" Vlad still locked eyes with his sister.

"Whenever you feel an overpowering feeling of bloodlust you pass out right?" Piers said. "Maybe that's the mysterious force."

"Like a spell?" Ingrid added. "That would explain the trance." Ingrid stepped away from her brother. "Have you been near any witches lately?"

"Not that I know of," Vlad said.

"So, some kind of spell is making you just forget what happens when you feel the urge drink blood, but you need it so desperately that you act without knowing it anyway," Ingrid walked around the room thinking.

Vlad looked at Piers. "Who would put a spell on me?"

"I was hoping you could answer that, but before this you hadn't killed anything?" Piers asked.

Vlad sighed. "No. I felt bloodlust before, but it would eventually subside."

"You know that's not how it works," Ingrid frowned. "You have to drink something to sedate it."

"I felt weaker yes, but the cravings went away on their own after a while."

Ingrid chuckled as she thought through her theory. "And all through that time you were with Talitha?"

Vlad nodded.

"And was Talitha with you any of the times you killed while wearing the amulet?"

Vlad knew what she was getting at.

"She also knows magic right? Like hippie horticult magic." Ingrid smirked. She believed she had figured it out.

Before Vlad could try to deny her theory, an alert from Piers's computer interrupted their conversation. He turned to it and started rapidly typing.

"What's that?" Vlad asked.

"The alarm," Piers said. "Someone's on the property."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"Let's go check it out," Ingrid told Vlad.

Vlad nodded.

* * *

Vlad and Ingrid stayed hidden and observed a car sitting in the middle of the courtyard. A young man opened the driver's side door and stepped out.

"It's Jonno," Vlad stepped forward.

Ingrid stopped him, "Why is VanHelsing here?"

Vlad recollected his confrontation with the slayers, "I think I invited him."

Ingrid rolled her eyes, "My house isn't an inn. Get rid of him." She disappeared.

Jonno gave Vlad a genuine smile as Vlad met him by his car.

"How've you been mate?" Jonno hugged him.

Vlad returned the hug, but quickly stepped back, "I'm fine, you?"

"Great, it's been a while since I've seen you. How were your travels?"

"Good, until your slayers showed up and shot at me," Vlad said.

Jonno avoided eye contact, "Yeah, that's why I'm here actually. Want to go on a drive?"

Vlad knew he shouldn't as he had enough going on already. He was hiding it well, but his mind was still reeling after his conversation with Ingrid and Piers. He didn't want to believe that Talitha was the one manipulating him, but nothing else made more sense. He decided he would first try and talk to her before accusing her, but the hurt he felt of her possible betrayal wouldn't go away.

Still, he got in the car and Jonno drove onto the highway.

"So what was all that about?" Vlad asked.

"Ok, first of all, I had no idea that mission was assigned until they were already on it," Jonno explained. "If I had known, I would have insisted on being there. Second, when they told me about what happened with you I was furious. I had Charles temporarily demoted. He knew better than to have held a gun on you."

Vlad believed him and was glad his friend still stuck up for him. "That's good to hear."

"Still, it was something I believe the slayers should know about, Vlad," Jonno said. "I think you were in the right to not trust them, but you should tell me what it was you found."

Vlad wondered what was safe to reveal. Yes, he trusted his friend, but he was still a slayer. He had even returned to slaying vampires though he claimed it was always in self defense.

"It's something that belonged to my family," Vlad said. "It had an amulet inside with our coat of arms. We thought it might contain some sort of power but it doesn't seem to do anything."

Jonno frowned, "That's strange. So it's just a piece of jewelry."

Vlad nodded, "It appears so."

"So what are you going to do with it?"

"Dad will probably just add it to his personal collection of family heirlooms," Vlad continued to lie.

"Well that's good then," Jonno seemed satisfied with Vlad's response.

They drove on through a nearby town, "I'm going to stop at one of these drive thru's to get something to eat. Want anything?"

Vlad's throat dried in response to the question.

"I'm alright," the longer Vlad stayed in the car with Jonno the more he was drawn to the smell of his blood. "Let's just get back after this ok?"

As they drove back Jonno sipped from his drink. "There is one other thing. We've had reports of an incident involving the local police in the area."

Vlad tensed up, but Jonno pretended not to notice.

"The Guild is investigating and there will be slayers out patrolling the next few nights. I just thought you should know."

If Vlad had a working heart it would have been beating violently, "Why is the Guild investigating something that involves the police?"

"It's just a precaution, but the incident is suspicious of a vampire attack. Three officers are missing and no trace of them left behind that the police found. I know Ingrid lives nearby and I don't want to cause trouble, but do you think…"

"No," Vlad said way too quickly. "I mean, it's unlikely. I've been with Ingrid for the last few days and she's hardly gone out."

Jonno took his eyes off the road for a second and saw Vlad looked a bit worried. For a vampire he never really hid his emotions. It's what made Jonno feel so comfortable around him. "Hardly? So there are times she was out. Where was she?"

Vlad frowned and looked forward, "She's Ingrid. You know she's a traditional vampire, but she's smart enough to avoid the police."

"That's not an alibi," Jonno said.

"So am I being interrogated?" Vlad gripped the handle on the car door.

"No, I'm your friend. I'm concerned."

"For my sister?"

"For you," Jonno pulled into the school and turned the car off. "I know you care about your family, but you know they aren't like you. They aren't free to kill just because of our friendship."

"Then let me handle it."

"I always do," Jonno's voice was stern. "Why do you think I told you about the investigation? But this is a two way street. If you can't talk to Ingrid and if she refuses to stop hunting people then the Guild will have to intervene. We've let this go on too long already."

Vlad knew that Jonno and the Guild only left Vlad's family alone because of their friendship, but now Vlad had killed. Not by choice but would Jonno see that or would the slayer immediately think he need a stake through his heart too?

"I'll talk to her?" Vlad said. "Don't let the Guild try anything. You aren't even sure if Ingrid had anything to do with attacking the police."

Jonno knew Vlad cared for his family, but he wasn't ever as certain of his sister's innocence

"Do you know something about this?" Jonno asked.

"No. I don't recall anything," Vlad opened the door and walked to the school entrance.

Jonno followed. "Are you ok?"

Vlad turned back to Jonno and studied him. Jonno appeared to be genuinely concerned which helped Vlad relax a little. "I'm fine. I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Ok. Just stay in touch," Jonno got back in his car and drove away.

* * *

Vlad couldn't find his sister anywhere in the school. He flitted to Piers's lab.

"Where's Ingrid?" Vlad asked.

Without looking up from his work, Piers said, "She went out hunting."

"Did she say where?" Vlad didn't hide the panic in his voice.

Piers stopped typing and turned. "She didn't but she normally goes into town."

Vlad shook his head. "There are slayers around. She shouldn't be out on her own. Jonno told me they are investigating the police disappearances."

Piers pulled up a window on his computer. "She's not wearing her tracker, but she does normally take her victims into the woods." He pointed at a section on the map full of trees.

"How do you know that?" Vlad asked.

"She took me with her once," Piers asked Ingrid to go with her on a hunt. He was curious and wanted to be sure she was safe. So much of that night made him feel guilty, but he tried not to think about it much. "I'm going to search the town. I know where she likes to pick out her...meals. You search the woods."

Piers tossed Vlad the tracker from before. "Put that on. If I can't find her then I'll use that to meet up with you."


	9. Chapter 9

Ingrid wiped the blood from her mouth and sighed. She closed her eyes feeling the warm liquid she had just drank giving her the power and control she craved. She never understood how her brother avoided this feeling for so long. It was too satisfying.

When she was a teenager she couldn’t wait to be a vampire. She heard her father tell Vlad about how human blood could make them feel invincible. Their father’s stories made her long to become the goddess she knew she was destined to be, but her brother was somehow disgusted by it.

She thought she would be more pleased that her brother was showing signs of accepting who he really was, but she didn’t like how it was happening. It gave him way too many excuses to deny who he was even more. 

She disposed of the body she had just fed from. A young man she found while walking outside a pub. He drank enough to allow him some bravery and he tried to sweet talk Ingrid. She laughed at the whole thing. It was always too easy. Her beauty attracted breathers right to her. She never had to do much convencincing to get them to follow her to the woods and their deaths.

Once she was sure she found a place no one would ever discover the body she prepared to fly home, but heard footsteps approaching her. The steps were subtle but quick. The owners were in a hurry, but careful. Slayers, she thought.

“Freeze!” Three slayers surrounded her holding UV guns. 

Ingrid looked uninterested. Three wasn’t a threat to her. Slayers always overestimated themselves. Ingrid would normally be excited for the opportunity to fight them, but she just wasn’t in the mood that night.

Before she could fly off a female slayer tossed a disk at Ingrid’s feet and she felt a shock travel from her toes through her spine.

She felt her powers draining and she dropped to her knees. “Let me go!” She snarled through her fangs.

The three slayers slowly approached her with guns ready.

Ingrid focused her power to the disk causing it to break in half. The shock stopped and she flitted behind the female. She grabbed her by her collar and tossed the slayer across the woods. Keeping her focus on the other two, she heard the female's skull crack. She could smell the blood.

The two slayers kept their positions. Ingrid waited for their move.

“Stop!” She heard a familiar voice.

Vlad appeared and stood between his sister and her opponents.

“Why are you attacking her?” Vlad’s attention was on the slayers. 

Ingrid rolled her eyes. Had he had any sense he would have used that element of surprise, but that just wasn’t how her brother was. He liked to take the peaceful route.

“This doesn’t concern you Chosen One,” one slayer spat. “We found Ingrid Dracula disposing of a body. We are taking her to headquarters for questioning.”

Vlad studied the scene and saw the female slayer on the ground. It was hard for him to ignore the smell of her blood.

“You can’t,” Vlad argued. “Not until I talk to Jonathan.”

The taller male lowered his weapon and stepped forward. “You think I care about what he has to say?” He shouted. “You're lucky we were only ordered to bring her in. If I had it my way we would have dusted her on sight. Now step aside.”

Vlad shook his head.

The slayer shot his gun at Vlad’s feet. A warning, but Vlad hardly flinched.   
  
“Next one goes through your chest,” the slayers said. “Step aside.”

When Vlad didn’t move the slayer raised his weapon. Ingrid shot fire at the slayer knocking him off balance. She lunged after the other slayer and pulled him to the ground while forcing the gun out of his hands.

The second slayer was prepared though. He used the momentum of the fall to pin Ingrid using pure adrenaline and pulled a stake from his vest. He raised it above his head and aimed for her heart.

But before he made contact, Vlad jerked him back, pulled his hair to better expose the slayer's neck and bit down. He screamed, but Vlad didn’t seem to notice or care. Ingrid sat up and watched in awe of what she was witnessing.

In her awe of Vlad’s brutality she didn’t see the other slayer back on his feet ready to shoot.

Vlad disappeared letting the slayer he was holding fall. 

He reappeared in front of the other slayer and ripped his weapon away from him. The slayer gasped at Vlad’s glowing red eyes. Vlad tore into the slayer's neck nearly taking his skin off.

Ingrid realized her mouth was hanging open. She never thought she would be fighting slayers with her brother or ever witness him killing two himself. She looked down at the slayer who nearly staked her and saw he was still alive, but weak. His eyes were wide with panic. The scene made her hungry and she leaned in to take the last of his blood.

Vlad dropped the slayer to the ground. It was dead silent. Ingrid finished her meal and pushed the man away still sitting on the ground. Her brother sat next to her and tried to wipe the drying blood from his face. 

Ingrid searched his face for any emotion. For once she couldn’t read him. “You saved me,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” Vlad said.

Ingrid looked at the scene around her. “They’re getting better.”

Vlad nodded. “Let’s go find Piers.”

He stood up and Ingrid grabbed his wrist to stop him. “Are you ok to be around a breather right now? Slayer's blood is the best there is but can leave us wanting more.”

Vlad smiled assuredly, “I have plenty of self control.”


	10. Chapter 10

Vlad and Ingrid walked through the woods.

“I can’t believe it,” Ingrid was smiling.

“Believe what?” Vlad knew what she was talking about but still asked.

“You,” Ingrid had never gotten along this well with her brother and this was the first time they were truly on the same page. It seemed almost too good to be true.

“No one is going to believe this,” Ingrid said. 

Vlad stopped walking. “I think it might be better if we just kept this between us.” 

“What?”

“I was only trying to protect you.”

Ingrid struggled to hide her frustration. “Don’t do that again. You killed those slayers. You enjoyed it” 

“I was caught in the moment. It can’t happen again.” 

“What is so bad about giving in to what you know you want?”

Before Vlad could give an answer, Piers came running towards them. “Good. You’re ok.” He held his heart as he caught his breath. “What I miss?”

Ingrid looked at Vlad who shook his head.

“Nothing much,” Ingrid said. “Some slayers attacked but we took care of it.”

“So what now then?” Piers asked.

Vlad pulled the amulet from under his shirt. It was glowing like before.

“You were wearing it?” Ingrid said.

“I didn’t really trust dad to watch over it,” Vlad admitted.

* * *

Everyone gathered in the throne room. The amulet laid on the table still glowing.

“Nothing is happening,” the Count said.

Vlad regretted not asking the man what would happen after he killed the last person. He tried wearing it again to see if he could contact him but the voice was silent. “I guess we just wait,” he said.

Vlad left everyone to get some rest. He hoped to not have to talk to his sister again until tomorrow, but he should have known she was going to continue to bother him. 

“You need to admit it,” Ingrid stopped him in the hall. 

“Admit what?” Vlad asked. 

“You know,” Ingrid said through her teeth. “The slayer's blood tasted good didn’t it? So good you wanted more so you killed the second one.”

Vlad didn’t respond.

“You can claim it was to protect me all you want, but I know what I saw. You enjoyed killing them.” Ingrid wasn’t even attempting to whisper and an audience had gathered

Ingrid saw her dad, Piers, and Renfield standing behind her. She looked back at Vlad. “Tell them what actually happened out in those woods.”

“Nothing happened, Ingrid,” Vlad said it so calmly she almost believed him herself, but then she caught on to what he was doing.

“Don’t you dare hypnotize me,” Ingrid faced everyone else. “We were attacked by slayers. They tried to kill me and Vlad ripped their throats.”

Vlad noticed the Count’s eyes widened. Vlad put his hand on Ingrid’s shoulder and turned her to face him again.

“Are you done?” Vlad asked. 

“Sure,” Ingrid smirked.

“So what the hell is wrong with you?” 

“I’m tired, Vlad.” Ingrid said. “I’m tired of the council, of this family and of you. I’m so tired of being alone in everything.” 

“You have me, babe,” Piers said. 

“Shut up! I know,” Ingrid said, still looking at her brother. “I’m tired of all the lying. You asked me more than a year ago if we could get along for at least 100 years. Is that deal still on the table?” 

Vlad wasn’t sure what to say. Ingrid had never been so open and direct before. Of course she just ousted him in front of his dad which is the last thing he wanted to worry about right now.

“Can we talk alone?” He asked.

Ingrid turned to everyone standing in the doorway, “Show’s over.” 

The three walked back into the throne room disappointed to be turned away.

Vlad led Ingrid to his room and closed the door. The room was barren now with only Vlad’s coffin, fridge, and the sofa still there. Vlad opened the fridge and tossed Ingrid what looked like a beer can. She looked at it and saw a picture of a bear. Animal’s blood.

“Sorry it isn’t like the high class stuff you’re used to,” Vlad said.

Ingrid sat down on the sofa and he sat down next to her. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Vlad said. 

“I was just fed up,” she shrugged.

“No, I mean I can’t believe you just did that in front of dad?” Vlad laughed. “Do you realize he will never let me sleep? The second you leave he’s going to knock on the door demanding I retell the whole story.” 

Ingrid laughed with him, “Well you deserve that.” 

“So is this really you?” Vlad asked. “Like are you really trying to be open and honest with me?”

Ingrid nodded. “I am.” 

Vlad shook his head, “How have you changed so much?” 

“Piers I guess,” Ingrid said. “It was a few things but he’s just really changed my perspective.”

“I knew I liked that guy,” Vlad said. “Even if he did point a gun on me.” 

Ingrid smiled, “You know I think he was really going to shoot you.” 

“Yeah, but he said it wouldn’t have killed me. Just hurt a lot.” 

“Oh no, that was the one that dusts vampires,” Ingrid said. 

“What?” Vlad’s eyes grew wide. “If I had known that I would have moved out of the way.”

Ingrid laughed. 

“That’s not funny,” yet Vlad still laughed. “I’m a bit afraid of Piers now.”

“And to answer your question, yes. I’m still all for getting along for 100 years,” he continued. “If we can make it that long. I think our record is about a week.” 

“You’re being generous,” Ingrid said. “Probably only three days.” 

“Well, we’ve really set the bar low then didn’t we?”

“So what now?” She asked.

Vlad took a breath, “I don’t know.”

“Look, I realize you’re half-human and that makes things a bit complicated,” Ingrid said. “But you need to set some priorities.”

“I get it,” Vlad said. 

“So are you going to stay then and help me fight the council?” 

“I need to think about it, ok?” 

That wasn’t what Ingrid was hoping to hear. “Fine.”


	11. Chapter 11

For a week, nothing has happened with the amulet. It still glowed, but no one understood why the person who claimed to be a Dracula wasn’t freed like he had said.

Vlad did sense the power growing but it just made him more impatient like watching a loading screen.

Piers and Vlad were in the lab still trying to figure out if they had done something wrong. 

“What are we missing?” Vlad paced the room visibly irritated. He had become more and more vampiric over the last couple weeks. He ditched the vegan friendly clothes and returned to his simple wardrobe of dark colored jeans, t-shirts and hightops. 

“Maybe we just have to wait,” Piers focused on his computer screen. He was trying to work on other projects, but Vlad refused to leave him be. “Maybe he’s building up power from the blood you gave him to set himself free.”

Vlad unnecessarily used his powers to appear right next to him making Piers's heart skip a beat. He had become a bit uneasy around Vlad after Ingrid told everyone about him killing the slayers. “So we do nothing for possibly weeks? The council will contact us any day asking about it and we have nothing to prevent them from taking it.” 

“Isn’t your girlfriend keeping them distracted for us?” Piers asked. 

“She can only do that for so long,” Vlad said. “She called me yesterday saying she would be coming by in the next couple days.” 

“Have you figured out what you were going to say to her?” Piers gave up on trying to get any work done. Vlad was worse than Ingrid when it came to demanding his attention. He figured it was due to Vlad’s fascination with humans.

“She can sense when things are wrong,” Vlad explained. “She has some ability to see auras. She’ll know something is up.” 

“So that’s a no then,” Piers said.

“I already asked Ingrid not to say anything about what has happened over the last couple weeks,” Vlad said. “I’ll figure something out.”

A ping went off and Vlad pulled out his cell phone. He had listened to Piers’s advice about embracing modern technology and Piers helped him set it up so it couldn’t be traced.

Vlad read a text from his slayer friend. “We need to talk,” it said. 

“I gotta go,” Vlad disappeared.

Piers was relieved to finally be alone, but then heard a gust behind him.

“Piers,” Ingrid said. 

“Does no one around here understand that I actually have work to do?” Piers slammed his fists down on the desk.

Ingrid raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry,” Piers said. “What is it, sweet fangs?”

“Just wanted to see if you wanted anything to eat,” Ingrid said. “But I’ll let you get it yourself.” She disappeared. 

He couldn’t wait for everything to be over so it could just be him and Ingrid again. The stress and lack of sleep was starting to get to him.

* * *

Vlad met Jonno at a steak restaurant. Vlad didn’t really notice before but his friend sure enjoyed eating. 

As Jonno ate from his plate of fries he made small talk. “I love this place. You get two sides for free if you order an entree on Wednesdays.” 

“Not that I’m not happy to hang out sometimes Jonathan, but you said you needed to talk about something,” Vlad said. 

Jonno wiped his hands before pulling a file from his bag.

He handed it to Vlad. 

“Another attack,” Jonno explained.

Vlad opened the file and tried not to react. He saw photos of the three slayers he and Ingrid killed and three police officers. 

“All of these people are missing,” Jonno continued. “When we first searched the area we found no traces of evidence of the attackers, but we finally located samples of blood left behind which helped us determine the exact locations of the attacks.”

Crap, Vlad thought. Of course the slayers were smart enough to get this far in an investigation even without finding a body.

“There’s more,” Jonno flipped the page and showed Vlad a picture of a body. “We did manage to find one of the missing cops. We did some tests on the bite but no vampires in our records matched. I know Ingrid has some half-fangs and I thought maybe she had a few new ones we weren’t sure about.”

Vlad didn’t look up from the file. 

“Vlad, I have been lenient with your family because of our friendship,” Jonno sounded sympathetic. “But if Ingrid or her followers are killing slayers and cops then we don’t have a choice but to take action.”

Vlad realized he hadn’t said a word since he was shown the file. “I’ll talk to her.” He still kept his focus on the file.

“You said that before,” Jonno argued.

Vlad breathed to calm himself. He focused on Jonno’s gaze and said “Give me some time to talk to her.”

Jonno nodded, “Ok.”

Jonno paid for the meal and he and Vlad walked out into the parking lot.

“Thanks for meeting with me,” Jonno said. 

“No problem,” Vlad said. 

Jonno observed how uneasy Vlad seemed. “If you know something then tell me. You know you can trust me.”

Vlad forced himself to relax, “I don’t really know anything, but I’ll do what I can to find out what’s going on.”

* * *

“The slayers found a body?!” Ingrid shouted.”You said they wouldn’t!” 

Vlad shrugged, “Well they did so we need to come up with something to tell them.”

“We tell the slayers nothing,” the Count said. “Your friendship with them is over. Once they find out you’re connected they won’t care what you have to say. They’ll slay you on sight.”

“Dad’s right,” Ingrid said. “If they figured out this much then no matter what lie we come up with they will put everything together eventually.”

“We use this time to prepare for them,” the Count said.

“You mean running away from them?” Ingrid taunted. 

“It’s kept you alive this long hasn’t it?”

Vlad was angry with himself for letting everything get this far. If he had just destroyed the amulet when he first thought he should, then they wouldn’t have been in this position.

Vlad’s thoughts and the arguing were interrupted by a gust filling the room putting all the candles and fireplace out. Once it died down everyone looked up to see the amulet floating above them. Power pulsed through the room until eventually a figure appeared kneeling before them.

Everyone tensed up ready for a fight besides Renfield who hid behind the throne.

The man slowly rose to his feet and looked around the room. “Finally,” he said.


	12. Chapter 12

Jonathan arrived back at the Slayer’s Guild headquarters. He found his mom, Mina VanHelsing, in the weapons vault taking inventory.

“Where’ve you been?” His mom said seriously. He missed when his mother acted more like a mother and less like his superior. 

“I went to see Vlad,” he said. 

His mother turned to face him, “After I told you what Ingrid had done?” 

“What you think Ingrid did,” he corrected. “We have no solid proof of it. Vlad had a right to know about your suspicions and he has helped us in the past.”

She shook her head in disapproval, “So what did he say?”

“That’s why I came to talk to you. He acted very shaken up when I told him about the murders and disappearances. I’ve never seen him that way.”

“You think he’s hiding something?”

Jonno felt guilty for talking to his mom about their conversation, but the way Vlad acted really bothered him. “I think he knows what happened to those people.” Jonno hesitated to say the next part. “He also has more coloring on his face like he looks healthier, like he’s been drinking human blood.”

* * *

The vampire who just emerged from the amulet, which he was now wearing Vlad noticed, scanned the room. 

He had a lot of classic Dracula features. Dark hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. What was interesting is he didn’t look too much older than the Count. Just a few gray strands of hair and a few wrinkles.

The vampire turned to face everyone else, “I am known as Dracula, but to avoid confusion you may call me Dracu.” He had a strong Romanian accent.

“What took you so long?” Vlad asked. “I got you your blood days ago.”

“The last few weeks attempting to communicate with you was exhausting,” Dracu said.

“So you need to sleep it off?” Vlad laughed. “So what is it that you know about the prophecy?”

Dracu chuckled. “Don’t be so anxious. I’ll answer all of your questions soon, but right now I’m thirsty.” He looked at Piers.

Ingrid and Vlad both stood in front of Piers to defend him. 

“He’s off limits,” Ingrid said.

Dracu retracted his fangs, “You defend breathers?”

“Useful ones,” Vlad said.

Dracu retreated, “Interesting.”  
  
“I’ll find you something,” the Count said.

By something the Count actually meant someone. Dracu was picky and refused to drink blood stored in anything other than human flesh.

As soon as Renfield brought a victim into the room, Vlad and Ingrid led Piers back to the lab to spare him from what he would have witnessed.

Dracu didn’t bother to hypnotize the poor guy so his screams echoed through the halls. 

“He’s insane,” Piers looked petrified.

Ingrid tried to help him relax but Piers remembered both Vlad and Ingrid were also vampires and refused her help, which hurt Ingrid a bit. 

“I’m not so sure he’s not just another Sethius,” Ingrid said.

“I shouldn’t leave him alone with dad,” Vlad said.

Ingrid agreed, “I’ll stay with Piers.”

Vlad disappeared. Ingrid held out her hand to Piers which he finally accepted.

When Vlad returned his father and Dracu were sitting at the table talking while Renfield dragged the now dead breather out of the room.

“How’s the breather doing?” Dracu asked. 

Vlad was surprised by the question, “I’m sure he’ll be fine, and his name is Piers.”

“Why don’t you sit with us?” he offered. “Your father and I were just talking.”

Vlad accepted the invitation and opted to listen in to try and gauge Dracu’s intentions. His dad talked about where they were from originally, when Vlad was born and how they discovered he was the Chosen One.

“Only 18 years of age?” Dracu looked at Vlad. 

Vlad nodded, “19 next month.”

“So young,” Dracu turned back to the Count. “Has he done much training?” 

“Off and on,” the Count said. “Vlad has been traveling the world for the last year and I doubt he kept any of that training.” 

Vlad cringed at his father giving away so much information. He really wondered how his father was ever seen as a great warrior and leader in the past. 

“That’s not good,” Dracu said.

“Why are you so quiet?” Dracu asked Vlad. “Earlier you couldn’t wait to ask your questions.”

“You seemed unwilling to answer them,” Vlad said. 

“I just wanted time to settle first.” Dracu said. “I haven’t had a body in over a thousand years. You can ask me whatever you like.” 

“Why were you imprisoned?” Vlad asked.

“My brother Sethius rebelled against our father,” Dracu began. “He had a plot to murder him which he unfortunatly succeeded. The clan leaders demanded someone be blamed. I, of course, immediately told them all it was Sethius, but I had no idea he had a few of our other siblings on his side. We had a war and we eventually trapped him within the Praedictum Impaver.”

Vlad wasn’t shocked to hear Sethius was Dracu’s brother. It made sense to him. “So what do you know about the prophecy?”

Dracu nodded, “When I was young, a witch approached my father and all of his children with a prophecy; this was before Sethius rebelled and is actually the reason why he did.” 

Ingrid entered their room in the middle of Dracu’s story and he acknowledged her. “Would you like to join us dear?”

Ingrid looked surprised by his offer. Since she was born a girl, no one ever really made an attempt to include her in anything.

“As I was saying, the witch told our father that she had seen into the future and saw the near destruction of all vampires, but one of his children’s descendants would be given the ability to harness all of dark magic and would be able to command all vampires.”

That had lined up with what Vlad had been told, but he never really felt much of the leader type. Yes he was strong, but he never had the respect of any vampire he met before.

“The witch shared her visions of the future with us,” Dracu continued. “That is what you saw before. It’s our future but as you know it’s difficult to make out. The Chosen One would be a descendant if mine. Over time, my siblings became jealous. Sethius especially. He accused my father of favoritism even though he had no part in how the prophecy would be fulfilled.” 

“Well I guess I understand where Sethius was coming from,” Ingrid looked at her father. 

“So what if I don’t want this?” Vlad asked. “What if I don’t do as the prophecy says?”

“Nothing is set in stone,” Dracu said. “But if you don’t then it would probably mean the end of our race. Do you doubt yourself?”

Vlad didn’t answer that. “So why were you trapped?”

“Unlike my brother, I did it willingly. Very few trusted me after the war and I was not seen as a fit leader. My eldest son took over the family and I had nothing. But I became obsessed with the prophecy. The visions I saw. I studied all that I could. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to meet you. So I locked myself inside the amulet.”

“That’s drastic,” Vlad said. “Why would you want to meet me?”

“So I can assist you in realizing your potential.”

“For power then,” Vlad shook his head. “I don’t need another person trying to tell me what to do.”

The Count rolled his eyes. His son was always resistant to authority and he supposed that was his own fault.

“Well, we all expect something in return for our services,” Dracu said. “What I have to offer you is invaluable. My knowledge of our kind. There is so much I can teach you.”

“Why should I trust you?” Vlad said.

“You shouldn’t,” Dracu smirked. “But with your own family being threatened by humans, you need me. A war is coming whether you like it or not. The results of that war are up to you.”


	13. Chapter 13

A lab tech approached Jonno and his mother. “I have the results from the test,” she said.

Mina opened the file and saw that it was Dracula DNA mixed with a human’s that killed the police officer. “So it was one of Ingrid’s half-fangs?” 

“That isn’t normally how it works,” the lab tech explained. “Vampire venom doesn’t change the human’s DNA after they are bitten. It still remains as it was before. It’s how we’ve been able to discern a born vampire from a half-fang in the past.”

“So what does this mean?” Jonathan asked.

“Well, I tried to match it to all of the Dracula’s DNA samples we have on file and there was no match, but I realized we don’t have the youngest son’s sample. I’ll need that to see if there’s a match.”

“But you said the DNA was mixed with a human’s?” He asked.

“Yes. Whoever killed this man is half-vampire and half-human. In the vampire world they call them dimidius.” 

Jonno’s heart started racing. 

“Thank you,” Jonno excused himself to his room. 

He closed the door and let out a shout in frustration.

He didn’t need any test done. He knew it was Vlad. He was never a normal vampire. The possibility of him being half-human explained everything. He didn’t understand why his friend would have killed all these people but he was determined to find out.

* * *

Vlad was too frustrated to sleep. He just paced his room thinking about Dracu. He couldn’t believe a word he said and he couldn’t just wait and see if he could be trusted when Vlad didn’t know what he was capable of. 

“Something bothering you?” Talitha sat on the top of the coffin smiling. He hadn’t noticed she’d arrived.

Vlad didn’t hesitate to hug and kiss her. “I missed you.”

“Missed you too,” she reached for his hands. “But I have bad news. The council is demanding that amulet. They want you to bring it immediately.” 

“Yeah, they have to take it up with this new guy. It’s his now.”

Talitha tilted her head and raised her brow. 

“I’ve got a lot to catch you up on.” Vlad told Talitha almost everything, but left out the part about he and Ingrid killing the slayers. He wasn’t sure how to tell her that yet without making himself sound like a crazed murder. 

He also still wanted to ask her if she had put a spell on him to dissolve his bloodlust, but he found it difficult to accuse her after what they had been through together.

“We should just get rid of Dracu then,” Talitha suggested. “He can’t be trusted and he has no interest in keeping with your beliefs about humans.”

Vlad flinched at that knowing how much things had changed since he last saw Talitha, but she pretended not to notice.

“We have to be careful,” Vlad said. “If he’s like his brother then we can’t just take him on. Sethius could dust multiple vampires at once in less then a second, and that was minutes after he was freed from the book.”

Talitha smiled and pressed Vlad’s hand into hers. He started to feel very confused about everything that had happened over the last few weeks. Tired too.

“Then we find a way,” she said.

* * *

Ingrid couldn’t believe what she was hearing, “So now we are going to just get rid of Dracu after all that work?” She stood in the lab with Piers, Vlad and Talitha.

“You want to risk keeping him around?” Taitha said. “He’s a threat.”

Ingrid looked at Vlad who avoided eye contact, “I suppose not.” 

“Great,” Talitha said. “We’ll talk more tonight. I’m exhausted from the trip here.”

Talitha left the three of them. 

“Can you not make a decision and stick with it?” Ingrid said to Vlad. 

“I know. I’m a mess,” Vlad admitted.

“Well let me help you out then,” Ingrid said. “Forget about what Talitha wants and remember that she’s controlling you.”

“I don’t know that for sure.” 

“Yes you do, you’re just too afraid to admit it.”

“Sorry to interrupt, “ Piers said. “We’ve got a problem.”

Vlad saw a picture of his mom and now 13-year-old sister on the computer screen. “Where are these from?”

“I have access to the Slayer’s Guild database,” Piers said.

“Since when?” Ingrid asked.

“Since I moved in and discovered a computer the slayers left behind,” he said. “How do you think I learned to make these weapons?”

“So these photos are from the slayer’s computers?” Vlad looked horrified.

“Yeah,” Piers said. “So is other information about them. Their birthdates, family history, address, it’s all here. I found it under the file they have on you.” 

“They know I’m half-human.” 

Piers kept searching for information, “They have a mission scheduled for a team of slayers to travel to your mother's address about two hours from here.”

“Then we need to beat them there,” Vlad said.

“Jonathan VanHelsing is assigned to this mission,” Piers said.

Vlad wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. He woke up his dad and Dracu.

“It’s 4 in the afternoon,” his dad complained. 

“It’s an emergency,” Vlad told him. 

Vlad explained to everyone about the slayers intent to contact his mom. Dracu wasn’t aware that Vlad was dimidius, but he just acted like the news didn't matter. Nothing really seemed to faze him.

“So what do you want to do then?” Dracu asked. 

“We aren’t sure if the slayers have already made contact with Sally and Georgina Giles before, but we know they will be checking in on them tonight,” Piers said. 

“So we need to be there before them and make sure they never have a chance to talk to them,” Vlad said. “We can bring them here until we find another option.” 

“I don't agree with that,” Dracu said.

“No one asked you,” Vlad folded his arms.

“They are breathers,” Dracu argued. “You said they don’t remember anything so there isn’t anything they could tell the slayers. Besides, associating with them is…,” He looked at Piers. “Unnatural.” 

“This is about their safety,” Vlad said.

“You care for them?” Dracu asked.

“It’s my mom and sister. Of course I care.”

Dracu looked to the Count, “Do you agree with this?”

“You want to ignore the Chosen One’s wishes?” The Count shrugged.

Turning back to Vlad, Dracu said, “Your father lets you do as you like. How did you manage to get him to fear you?”

Vlad just shrugged.

Dracu smirked and held out his open palm towards Vlad. His eyes glowed green and a jagged transparent sphere surrounded Vlad. It shined like a gem.

“Wait!” Vlad shouted. A pulsing screech came from it. It could be heard outside and hardly bothered anyone, but Vlad covered his ears and fell to his knees. 

“You see?” Dracu said to the Count. “There is nothing to fear. He is only a child.”

“Let him out,” the Count stepped forward to assist his son.

“He needs to learn a lesson.”

Talitha appeared next to Vlad and smashed the sphere releasing him from the prison.

Vlad moved his hands from his ears but was slow to get up.

“How do you expect anyone to follow you if your own father won’t stand up to you?” Dracu said. “You need trust.”

Vlad got back on his feet and raised his fist. His eyes flashed green and he released the power aiming for Dracu, but he stepped out of the way.

“So you can zone,” Dracu observed. “Well done, but you put too much force behind your attacks. You need to control it.”

Vlad was shaking with anger. He wanted to fight back, but Dracu zoning him and him attempting to do the same had drained him. He wasn’t sure he could even flit.

“I’m going to see Sally and George.”

Dracu sighed. “Fine. I guess you’ll learn better this way anyway.”


	14. Chapter 14

Everyone except for the Count and Renfield loaded into Pier’s van to travel while avoiding the sunlight.

Dracu insisted on going. Vlad was against it but he was still weak from the stunt Dracu pulled earlier and didn’t think the old vamp was giving him a choice.

Piers drove, Dracu rode shotgun while Ingrid, Vlad and Talitha rode in the back.

Piers struggled to relax but talked a lot when he was nervous. He talked Dracu’s ear off about technology and explaining how the van worked.

“What if the slayers do show up?” Ingrid asked.

“We talk to them,” Vlad said.

Ingrid rolled her eyes at Vlad still trying to be civil with slayers. 

“They might try to kill you if they know you are behind the murders,” Ingrid said to Vlad telepathically assuming he didn’t tell Talitha about what happened. 

“I’m hoping they don’t,” Vlad responded. “But if they do and they start a fight then I promise I won’t allow them to hurt any of you.”

Talitha noticed them making eye contact, “Something wrong?” 

“Vlad’s mad at Dracu,” Ingrid sneered. “Don’t think he appreciated the zoning.”

“I’m still weak from before,” Vlad refused to let Ingrid get a rise out of him.

Talitha pulled a flask from her bag. “It’s animal blood.”

Vlad accepted the gesture, “I thought you didn’t kill even animals.”

“I didn’t. My father keeps a stock for half-fangs. I thought you might need it.”

Vlad drank and felt his strength returning, but the stale blood wasn’t nearly as satisfying as when he drank from the slayers.

He thought back to that night. He continued to try to feel guilt over what he had done but he felt nothing. If anything he had to keep himself from smiling when he remembered seeing the surprised look in the slayer’s eyes just before he bit down.

Vlad noticed Talitha shudder pulling him from his thoughts.

“Are you ok?” He asked.

“I felt a chill,” Talitha turned her head and focused on Vlad. She didn’t try to hide her surprise.

“What’s wrong with you?” Ingrid sounded annoyed.

“Vlad, your aura…” she didn’t finish her sentence. Piers parked the vehicle and turned the engine off. “We’re here,” he announced.

They arrived at Sally’s house just as the sun set. The slayers didn’t appear to be around but they knew they were short on time.

Vlad opened the door and Talitha stopped him. She held her mouth open like she wanted to say something but didn’t.

“We can talk later,” he told her. “Right now, I need your help.”

Talitha nodded and followed Vlad to the door. The others stayed behind to look out for slayers.

Vlad rang the doorbell and thankfully Sally answered.

“Can I help you?” She asked. 

Vlad tried to not act too excited to be seeing his mom again, “Yeah, we heard from a friend that you make unique art and wanted to talk with you about maybe doing something for a hospital in London.” 

“London?” Sally smiled. “But you didn’t have to come all the way here. You could have called.”

“Well we represent the hospital but we have an office out here,” Talitha stepped in. “Do you mind if we came in and talk to you more about this?”

“Oh, of course!” Sally said. “Come on in.” Sally granted the vampires permission to enter her home.

Sally closed the door behind them.

“Does anyone else live here with you?” Vlad asked, trying to confirm where his sister was.

“My daughter,” Sally said. “She’s upstairs playing a game on her computer. Can I get you two anything?” 

“Whatever you have is fine,” Talitha said. 

Sally directed them to sit in the living room while she grabbed some refreshments.

“That was too easy,” Talitha said.

“My mom is the type to be easily trusting,” Vlad said. “She was with my dad after all.” 

Sally returned, “I haven’t had the chance to go to the store this week so I hope water is ok.” 

“Ms. Giles,” Talitha said. “Will you look into my eyes please?”

The second Talitha snapped her fingers Sally embraced her son in a hug. “You’re here,” she said. “I thought I would never see you again.” 

“I didn’t think I would see you either,” Vlad said. 

“It’s good to see you again, Ms. Giles,” Talitha said.

“You can call me Sally.” She then looked confused. “But why are you here?” 

Vlad explained to her that the slayers were on their way to meet her and he worried they might be in danger. “We need you to come with us,” Vlad said. “Both you and George.” 

Sally didn’t hesitate, “George! Come down here please.”

“Are we going back to the school?” Sally asked Vlad. 

“Just for a little while until we can sort this out,” Vlad said. 

Sally closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. His mom found it hard to handle these situations and Vlad hated that he had to put her through this again.

“What is it, mom?” George stood at the bottom of the stairs. She looked a bit older and had longer hair which she had up in a ponytail instead of just wearing it down like before.  
  
“We are going to take a bit of a trip,” Sally explained.

George looked confused and saw Vlad and Talitha. “Who are they?” 

“They are some friends of mine,” Sally said. “Please go pack a bag, I’ll explain more later.” 

George hesitated. Talitha introduced herself, “Why don’t I help you pack?”

Sally was stressed but managed to grab her bag and threw some clothes in. 

“Are you going to be ok?” Vlad asked. 

Sally tried to smile, “Of course I will. I just thought we were past this, but if you say it’s not safe to stay here then I trust you.” 

Sally stopped what she was doing and took a deep breath. “I am happy to see you but I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to handle all this this time. We had so many near death experiences before.”

“I know,” Vlad said. “I’m sorry.” 

Sally gave him another hug. When she pulled away Vlad noticed her necklace. “You’re still wearing that?” 

Sally looked down at her half of her yin and yang necklace. “Oh! I just never felt like taking it off. I wasn’t sure why, but now that I remember, I do.”

Vlad pulled out his matching necklace from under his shirt showing he still had his.

They all met back in the foyer. Sally was grateful her daughter was always so willing to do as she asked, but she was entering her teen years so she was sure she would turn on her soon enough.

Talitha looked out the window to confirm the slayers hadn’t arrived yet. Sally locked up the home and they hurried to the van.

Piers got out of the driver’s side and helped Sally load their bags while Vlad guided George to the side door. 

“You took long enough,” Ingrid complained. 

Piers helped Sally step into the van and Talitha started to follow before Vlad stopped her. “They’re here,” he said. He could sense the slayers coming their way.

Talitha stepped back out, “Let’s try and talk this out then.”

“Ingrid you stay with everyone in the van,” Vlad said. Draco stepped out of the vehicle to join Vlad and Talitha. Vlad wanted to be sure he stayed with him rather than with his mom.

“We’ll meet up with you later,” Vlad told Piers.

Piers drove away in the opposite direction of the slayers. The three vampires stood in the road to prevent the slayers from following. A dark gray van turned the corner and stopped a few feet from the home. Jonathan was the first to step out. 

“How did you know we would be here?” Jonno asked.

“Why are you here?” Vlad said.

Jonno looked at Dracu, “I don’t think we’ve met.” He continued the theme of ignoring questions.

Vlad sensed Jonno’s heart racing.

“I’ll just come out and say it then,” Jonno said. “I know you’re half-human Vlad and I want to help. That’s why we came here to meet with Sally to see if we could figure something out.”

“I think I’m good,” Vlad said. “And leave Sally and George alone. They don’t know anything.”

Someone else stepped out of the slayer's vehicle. Vlad hissed instinctively. It was the slayer they met in Romania, Charles. 

  
Talitha reached for Vlad’s hand and he started to feel tired again. He hadn’t realized it before, but he knew how she was doing it now. Her touch was forcing him to relax.

“Why did you bring him here?” Vlad focused back on the slayers figuring he would talk to his girlfriend later.

“Because I’m one of the best shots in the Guild,” Charles answered, keeping his hand on a pistol placed on his hip. “You aren’t getting away this time.” 

Jonno put his hand up to stop Charles from raising his weapon. “You aren’t helping.” He turned to the vampires. “Please, Vlad. Why don’t you come with us? We have the resources to help you.”

Jonno was being very insistent, Vlad thought. 

“Or we can just talk.”

Jonno’s heart beating was tempting Vlad. Jonno was doing his best to hide it but he was freaking out. “We’re going now Jonno,” Vlad said. “Don’t try and follow.”

Jonno wasn’t going to let it go. “I know you killed all of them!”

Everyone froze.

“The three police men and the slayers!” 

“Slayers?” Talitha asked glaring at Vlad.

“Why?” Jonno kept on. Vlad thought he saw a tear run down his face. “Why would you betray us?” 

“You’re slayers attacked us,” Vlad argued.

“Did the police attack you?”

Talitha leaned in, “We need to go.”

Talitha was right and there was no way he could talk to Jonno while in that state.

“If you run now, I will never forgive you for this,” Jonno said. 

Vlad thought he would feel more hurt by Jonno’s reaction, but he didn’t. He understood it though. “I’m sorry.”

Before Charles could lift his weapon they were gone.


	15. Chapter 15

Vlad and the other two found Piers’s van.

“Did you fight them?” Ingrid asked. 

“No,” Vlad said. “Jonno had a total breakdown, but I’ll explain later.” He noticed George was asleep next to her mom. 

“Ingrid hypnotised her,” Sally said. “I told her it would be alright. George just couldn’t relax.”

Once they were back at the school, Ingrid helped Sally and George settle in their room. George hadn’t woken up yet. “It should wear off in a few hours,” Ingrid explained.

“Thank you, Ingrid,” Sally said. “I don’t remember you being this kind.” She didn’t mean to sound so surprised.

Ingrid shrugged, “If you need anything then let me know.”

Ingrid joined Talitha, Piers and Vlad in the lab. Vlad told them what had happened when he talked to Jonathan.

“So he knows,” Ingrid said. “We aren’t safe here then. The slayers could attack any moment.”

“You’re right,” Vlad said. “We should probably all get out of here.” 

“We need to talk to dad then,” Ingrid said. 

“So when were you going to tell me about the slayers?” Talitha interrupted.

“Eventually,” Vlad said. “I just wasn’t sure how to go about it.” 

“Don’t you trust me?” 

“I did,” Vlad said.

Talitha tried to reach for his hand again, but he pulled away.

“What happened then?” Talitha asked. “What are you not telling me?” 

“We were attacked by slayers,” Vlad explained. “We defended ourselves. That’s it.”

Ingrid was annoyed by Vlad’s interpretation, but kept out of it. She felt awkward to be in the room at that moment.

“If that’s the case then why wouldn’t you have just told me that?” Talitha said. “And your aura is so dark. Something is wrong.”

“You’ve been manipulating me,” Vlad wanted to talk to her alone but was tired of Talitha acting so concerned for him. It seemed so fake. “You put a spell on me to suppress the bloodlust.”

Talitha’s eyes bounced around looking for a response. “I was helping you. You care for breathers but you seemed to be losing control.”

“And you wouldn’t tell me about it because?”

“I wasn’t sure how you would react,” Talitha cried. “I didn’t want to lose you to the darkness and if I was then you might have rejected the idea.”

“Well too late for that,” Vlad snapped.

“What do you mean by that?” Talitha frowned. 

“We’re done, Talitha,” Vlad said. “You should go.”

Talitha ignored him, “There is something else to that slayer attack. What?”

“I think you know.”

“I want to hear it. Prove to me you aren’t that far gone.”

Vlad didn’t answer her.

“You drank their blood,” Talitha wasn’t asking. “It wasn’t self-defense. It was murder.”

“Call it whatever you want,” Vlad said. “It doesn’t matter.”

Talitha looked in his eyes for any signs of guilt or sympathy, but she found none.

“You’re proud of what you did,” Talitha looked disgusted. 

“I won’t let anyone hurt my family, Talitha,” Vlad said. “You should know that.”

“So what did biting them do?”

“Nothing,” Vlad admitted. “But it made me feel a whole lot better.”

Ingrid couldn’t restrain a laugh. She couldn’t help but find Talitha’s reaction hilarious.

“I was only trying to help,” Talitha whispered.

“I don’t need it,” Vlad said through his teeth.

Talitha shook her head. “What are you going to do? Be a killer like your family?”

“That’s up to me,” Vlad said. “Not you.”

Talitha was trembling. She wiped the tears off her face and disappeared.

Vlad turned to Ingrid who was trying to keep from laughing and Piers looking really uncomfortable. “What’s so funny?”

“All of it,” Ingrid said. “You, Talitha, all of this is hilarious.”

Ingrid surprised Vlad with a hug. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking but after all they went though the last few weeks he was glad to have her on his side.

When Ingrid didn’t let go, Vlad said, “Ingrid, being around those slayers, their heartbeats…”

Ingrid smiled. “Wait here.” She was back in less than three seconds. She had a bottle of human blood with two glasses and a beer for Piers. 

After she poured the drinks and passed them out she raised her glass. “To a fresh start,” she said.


	16. Chapter 16

Talitha was devastated. Vlad had always struggled with his beliefs and being dimidius, but she never thought he would turn. 

She knew she was wrong for ever using any spell on him, but that didn’t change what she needed to do. Vlad was a danger to humans and himself. If she didn’t do something then a lot more people would probably die. She could only think of one person she could turn to. 

She located the Slayer’s Guild headquarters and found a slayer leaning against his car.

“Jonathan,” she said.

He quickly turned around and pointed a gun at her. She threw her hands up signaling she didn’t mean any harm. “I need your help,” she said.

* * *

They had their moment to celebrate but Vlad and his sister knew they needed to act quickly. The slayers would probably be there any day or hour and they would be at a disadvantage staying at Garside.

They started packing only what they thought was necessary to bring with them.

Moving Piers’s tech, and the Count not understanding what the word necessary meant, took a lot of time. 

George had her memories back. Ingrid had helped with that after she woke up.

George assisted Renfield and Piers in loading the van. “Where are we going?” She asked.

“Not sure right now,” Piers said “But anywhere is better than here.” 

George turned to Renfield, “It’s good to see you again, Renfield. Think we can make a batch of bat biscuits later?”

Renfield smiled. It was nice to have someone appreciate his cooking or show him any kindness at all. “Definitely.”

Vlad found his mom sitting alone in the throne room. “You ok?” He asked.

His mother looked up and invited him to sit with her on the couch. “I have a good friend who lives a few hours from here,” she said. “Once we get out of here, I want to arrange for me and George to stay with them.”

“I understand,” Vlad couldn’t say he wasn’t disappointed though. He only really got to see his mom again for a few moments.

Sally placed her hand on Vlad’s cheek, “I’m so proud of you you know.” He wasn’t going to tell her about anything he had been up to the last few weeks. He rather she remained ignorant. 

“Do you want me to have Ingrid erase your memories again?” 

Sally shook her head, “No. I don’t want to forget you. Erasing our memories before didn’t keep us safe like you thought. Besides, George also needs someone she can look up to other than myself.” 

Vlad once again felt guilt thanks to his mother’s words. He realized it was the first time he felt the emotion in weeks. His human side really did affect him a great deal.

Vlad’s thoughts were interrupted by a vision of the slayers approaching. They would be there soon. “We have to get you and George out of here.”

Vlad flitted him and his mother down to the courtyard. He forgot his mother never traveled that way before and she looked a little sick. “Sorry.”

Sally tried to laugh it off, “I’ll be fine.” 

Vlad told Piers they would have to hurry. “Can you take George and Sally away from here?” 

“I can,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“Slayers are on their way now,” Vlad said.

Piers nodded in understanding.

“Thanks,” Vlad said. “I’ll hurry dad up and we can meet up later.” He disappeared. 

“Come on George,” Piers said. “You can ride shotgun if you like.” He closed the door once George was in.

“Piers,” Sally looked nervous. “Tell me the truth. Is Vlad in danger as well?”

Piers hesitated. 

“Please talk to me,” Sally pleaded. “I need to know what’s going on here.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Can’t the slayers just mind their own business for a few hours?” The Count complained. 

“Piers is taking George and Sally away. We need to go now. We can come back and get what you need when it’s safe,” Vlad said. 

“Fine,” the Count said.

Vlad’s phone rang and he answered. “What is it, Piers?” 

“Please don’t be angry with me, but your mom is very persuasive,” Piers said. 

“What did you do?”

Sally took the phone from Piers, “You think I’m just going to leave you when the slayers are coming here to kill you? You told me they were planning to take me and George!” She yelled. 

“I’ll meet you downstairs,” he told his dad.

Vlad met Piers and his mom in the courtyard. The van was gone and so were Renfield and George.

“You really thought you could lie to me?” Sally was in full mom mode now.

“Why are you still here?” Vlad asked. 

“I’m not leaving you if you’re in danger,” Sally said. 

“I’m always in danger, mom,” Vlad said.

“Yes, but I know about it this time.”

“So what happened?” He asked Piers. 

“Sally told me to take the van and George and leave her here.”

“Why are you still here then?” 

“I wasn’t going to leave your mom alone in the courtyard and give you a reason to take this out on me,” Piers said. “So I asked Renfield to drive her instead.”

“It’s not safe here,” Vlad told his mom.

“I’m not leaving until you do,” she argued.

Vlad gave in to her demand. He would leave the second everyone else got out of there anyway so it didn’t matter.

A light shot across the sky. For a second, Vlad thought it was lightning but the sky was clear. A large purple dome appeared around the school with Vlad and his family inside it.

Ingrid appeared with her half-fangs in the courtyard. “What is that?” She asked.

The half-fang from before, Jessica, panicked, transformed into a bat and tried to fly out of the dome. She was dust the second she reached the top.

This is the giant UV dome the slayers built way back when Vlad had first met Erin, he realized. The slayers must have rebuilt the generator.

“So we’re trapped in here?” Sally asked.

“We are,” Ingrid pointed to her and Vlad. “You and Piers can walk right through that thing.”

UV bombs rained down on them. Ingrid grabbed Piers and Vlad grabbed his mother before flitting inside. The half-fangs didn’t react fast enough. The flash of the bombs dusted them.

“What do we do?” Ingrid shouted over the blasts of the bombs.

“We find dad and Dracu,” Vlad said. “Dad might know another way out.”

They all managed to regroup in a room that had no windows for the UV lights to sneak in.

Piers checked his phone, “The slayers are making their way onto the property now.” He showed them a video.

“How long will this dome stay up?” Vlad asked

“Could be hours,” Piers said.

“If there is no way out then we’ll have to fight back,” Ingrid said.

“I can help,” Piers said. “I have a defense system that covers most of this building and I can control it from my tablet.” 

“You take Sally then and find a place to hide and control your computer thing,” The Count said. “Vlad, Ingrid, you both cover the west wing. Dracu and I will take the east.”

Vlad looked at Dracu uncertain of his intentions.

“You’re just going to have to trust me,” Dracu said.

Vlad shook his head. He didn’t but he really didn’t have a choice. He disappeared and the Count stopped Ingrid before she could follow.

“Watch him,” he said with a worried look.

“I will,” Ingrid promised, ignoring that the Count once again was only worried for his son. She disappeared.

* * *

Piers and Sally made their way to the kitchen pantry. He doubted they would be found there.

“So what does this defense system do?” Sally asked. 

“It targets UV powered weapons,” he explained. “Once it scans them I can disable their weapons.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Sally didn’t like feeling so helpless.

Piers handed her his phone, “Keep track of the slayers locations for me.” He showed her how to switch between cameras.

* * *

Vlad and Ingrid heard the sound of multiple footsteps running through the halls. The slayers were trying to work quickly and not as strategically.

He and Ingrid were able to find the three slayers and attack before they found them. They each set one of them on fire. The third was mortified at sight of his friends screaming for help. Vlad grabbed him from behind and bit his neck. He found it difficult but he stopped just before the slayer passed out on him from blood loss. 

“How many of you are there?” Vlad hissed.

“20,” he answered. The venom from Vlad’s bite was potent and the slayer was already transforming which meant he couldn’t resist Vlad’s questions and demands. 

“Is VanHelsing one of them?” he asked as he wiped the blood from his mouth with his jacket sleeve. 

“Yes, but I’m not sure where he is.”

“Find him,” Vlad bared his fangs. “Once you do, come tell me where he is. Don’t approach any slayers.”

Vlad and Ingrid watched as the former slayer left. 

Ingrid looked at her brother surprised. 

“What?” Vlad asked.

“Just getting used to the new you.”

Vlad looked down at the two burnt bodies considering her warning. “Let’s go. 17 more to find.”

* * *

“There are 3 in the hall here,” Sally showed Piers. “This won’t kill them will it?”

“No,” Piers lied. He didn’t want Sally to feel any guilt over this. Piers typed a code and the slayer’s UV weapons exploded in their hand shooting shrapnel. “It just knocks them out. Can I see that phone?”

* * *

Ingrid received a text from Piers and she shared it with Vlad. “He says each group is working in teams of three except one is a team of 5.” 

That team of 5 probably is where they would find Jonathan, Vlad thought.

They continued their search of the area. They found one other team of three and killed them in a similar fashion to the first.

Vlad’s slayer pet returned just as they were about to meet up with Piers and Sally. “He’s in the courtyard with four other slayers,” he told them confirming Vlad’s theory..

“Thanks.” Vlad shot lightning from his hand dusting the half-fang.


	18. Chapter 18

Ingrid and Vlad met up with his mom and Piers in their hiding place. The Count and Dracu joined them shortly after. They confirmed that all the slayers inside the building were taken care of.

“What about the five outside?” Ingrid asked.

“Maybe they will leave,” Piers hoped. 

Vlad knew he should wish for that too, but he didn’t want VanHelsing to get away. He suspected the slayer ordered the attack.

Before they could discuss anything more, garlic gas started filling the halls. It was everywhere and they realized the slayers were trying to draw them out. Even the roof was covered and they had no choice but to go to the courtyard where the slayers waited. 

Vlad made sure to stand by his mom since she couldn’t defend herself.

“Glad you could join us,” Charles taunted. 

One other male and two female slayers readied their weapons. Jonathan was also among them.

Charles spotted Sally standing behind Vlad. “That’s your mom right? Is she aware of why we are here?”

“Don’t,” Jonathan warned his fellow slayer. “We aren’t here to talk this out.”

“I just think she should know the truth before she watches her son die,” Charles said. “So she knows who the bad guys are.” 

Charles pulled out a gun that was a bit older than the slayer's current grade of weapons. One that shot silver bullets.

“Your son murdered three innocent police officers,” he spoke to Sally. “I saw one of the bodies myself. No one could find the other two. We also can’t find three slayers. He probably had something to do with that too.” 

Sally was crying. Vlad wanted to shut the slayer up, but if he acted irrationally it could cause all of them to be killed. 

“I don’t think a heartless creature like that should exist do you?” Charles pointed his gun at Vlad.

“Wait!” Sally hurried to stand between the vampires and slayers. “Please don’t hurt my son.”

“He’s a monster,” Charles smiled coldly. “It’s my job to protect people like us from creatures like them.”

“He’s not a monster,” Sally cried. “I know him and he wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

It hurt Vlad to see his mom so shaken. It hurt more that she continued to believe in him.

“You can walk back in that building and verify it,” Charles pointed using his gun. “We haven’t heard from any of our guys that were just in there. You're a fool if you think he didn’t just kill a few of them himself.”

Charles pointed his gun again at Vlad, but Sally stepped in front of it.

“Please,” Sally choked. “I can’t let you kill him.”

Vlad knew he was fast. He realized Charles wasn’t looking at him anymore. He could disarm him before he had a second to blink. With no time to communicate with his family, he hoped they would have the sense to attack the other slayers.

Vlad hesitated and his step alerted Charles who quickly turned back to him.

“No!” Sally shouted. 

The slayer quickly fired three bullets carelessly. Vlad avoided the first, the second hit Dracu in the shoulder and the third struck an unintended target. 

The courtyard was silent.

A body laid on the ground.

“Mom?” Vlad hurried to his mom's side. He called for her again but she didn’t respond.

He tried listening for a heartbeat but didn’t hear anything. He barely noticed the slayers leaving.

None of the vampires attempted to stop them. 

Everyone just stared at Vlad who was holding his mom and crying.

Unsure of what to say or do, Ingrid stepped forward “Vlad.” 

Vlad wailed and a surge of electrical power knocked everyone off their feet. 

He vanished and tore through the UV shield, disabling it in the process.

Piers fell next to Sally and tried to see if there was anything he could do.

“Where did he go?” Dracu asked, holding his shoulder.

“Probably to the slayer’s headquarters,” Ingrid suggested. “That’s where those cowards will be heading.” 

“Do you know where it is?” 

“Yes.”

“We don’t have much time,” he said. 

“What do you mean?” The Count asked. 

“Vlad’s eyes,” Dracu explained. “They shined blue which means he’s using his Chosen One powers. In his state, he won’t be able to control them. It might kill him.” 

“I should go after him,” Ingrid said.

“Not alone,” Piers said.

“I can handle my own brother,” but she didn’t sound confident. “He won’t listen to anyone else.”

Piers stood up and handed her a tracker he was carrying. “Please?”

“If it will shut you up,” Ingrid teased.

* * *

When Ingrid arrived at the Guild, the building was already in shambles. Lights flickered everywhere blinding her and mutilated slayers laid lifeless outside. She could feel electricity flowing around her. 

She tried to reach Vlad telepathically but couldn’t. The power around her made it impossible to focus. She ran inside to start her search.

* * *

Jonathan, Charles and one of the female slayers that came back with them, Marie, all stood back to back. 

Jonathan tried to keep an eye on their generators. This was the vampires causing them to overcharge, he thought. He worried they might overload, but he wasn’t sure what he could do. 

The slayers hadn’t realized it was just Vlad attacking.

Marie was hit by a bolt of lightning and thrown against the wall. Her body jolted before laying completely still. Jonathan tried to assist her, but another crack of electricity sparked in front of him warning him to not move.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up warning him of another attack.

“Move!” He told Charles. His warning was useless. 

Charles was wrapped in a net of blue lightning and slowly lifted off the ground. He screamed out in agony.

Jonathan, overcome with fear, fell to his knees. 

The lighting dropped Charles to the concrete floor. Fearful dead eyes stared at Jonathan.

“Charles?” Jonathan said.

He didn’t respond.

Not wanting to see the same fate, Jonathan picked up Charles's gun and made sure it was loaded. 

He waited for the attack. 


	19. Chapter 19

Ingrid checked almost every room, but they were all deserted. She could feel her power draining as she moved throughout the building. She finally found what looked like a control room. 

There were more bodies there. Ingrid spotted Charles’s body In the center of the room. Jonathan looked petrified but alive.

She made the mistake of stepping into his view. He pointed a gun on her but failed to pull the trigger before being lifted in the air.

Lighting wildly cracked through the air.

Ingrid leaned against the door frame trying to maintain her balance.

Jonathan managed to hang on to the gun. His body began to go numb so he willed himself to squeeze the trigger even though he had no way of knowing where the bullet would go. He got lucky.

He fell to the ground shattering his ankle and yelled out in pain. If he managed to run he wouldn’t get far.

He looked up to find his attacker doing about as well as him. “Vlad?” 

Vlad was on his knees holding his left shoulder. The slayer readied his weapon again.

“Please don’t make me do this,” Jonathan cried.

Ingrid slowly walked towards her brother hoping Jonathan wouldn’t make the mistake of aiming for her again. “Vlad, you have to listen to me.” 

Vlad didn’t respond and she could hear the slayer's heart racing. She wished he would put the gun down.

“You can’t keep this up,” Ingrid warned him. “You’ll kill yourself.” She could feel Vlad’s power growing again and knew she wasn’t reaching him. 

“I don’t want to have to fight you, but I will.”

Ingrid turned to Jonno and noticed he was leaning against an argentalium door. 

An alarm alerted her she was running out of time. The generators weren’t reacting well to the extra power.

Vlad stood and his gaze warned her to back off. She almost submitted, but instead focused all the power left in her and sped to the door, pressed the button to open it, throwing Jonno inside. She closed the door and pulled the button of the wall to prevent any access to the room on the other side.

“What did you just do?”

Ingrid finally had Vlad’s attention. 

“I had to,” Ingrid said. “You have to stop. You’re putting yourself in danger.” 

As much as she didn’t want to do it, she readied herself to fight him.

Vlad yelled out and fell to his knees holding his head.

Ingrid had no idea what was happening, but the alarm sounded more rapidly. She looked over at the machines against the wall. Before she could react, a fire engulfed the room.

The windows shattered around them and Ingrid ducked trying to avoid any glass from hitting her. 

Lightning flashed all around her out of control and she found it hard to focus on anything.

She felt someone grab her by the shoulders and start leading her. She had no idea where they were going. Just as she felt herself falling another generator exploded behind her. 

She landed in the patch of grass outside and she began to regain her vision.

“Keep moving,” she heard her brother’s voice tell her as the building fell apart.

They managed to get far enough to safety. 

They sat on a nearby hill watching the Slayer’s Guild burn down. Fire trucks surrounded the place.

“I can’t believe this was all just you,” Ingrid laughed. 

Vlad wasn’t in a mood to celebrate. His mother was dead. She only wanted to save him even after the slayer told her all those things about him. Somehow after killing dozens of slayers, including his mom’s killer, he didn’t feel any better.

* * *

Vlad and Ingrid met up with the Count, Dracu and Renfield back at Garside. Piers had gone to a hotel with George while the rest of them finished gathering what they needed at the school.

The Count noticed Vlad holding his left arm and ordered Renfield to look it over. Vlad sat on the couch with his sleeve rolled up while Renfield examined it. It was scared up and red. 

“Does it hurt?” Renfield asked.

“A little,” Vlad stared at his feet with a look of sorrow on his face. He had been crying which interested Renfield. He rarely ever saw a vampire cry.

“How did it happen?” Renfield asked. “Was it a slayer’s weapon?”

Vlad shrugged.

Renfield handed Vlad a glass of blood. He was thankful that Vlad didn’t argue. He found it difficult to ever treat Vlad of anything when he previously refused the one thing that would easily cure him.

As Vlad drank the injury began to disappear but wasn’t totally healed.

“It might take some time for it to heal completely,” Renfield observed. 

Dracu walked into the room. “Leave us,” he told Renfield.

Vlad didn’t look up at Dracu.

Dracu lifted Vlad’s arm to observe it. “You could have killed yourself.”

Vlad jerked his arm away.

“That injury was caused by your own power,” Dracu said. “This is why I said you need to learn control.”

“Go to hell,” Vlad hissed.

Dracu sighed and sat down next to Vlad. “You are our future and I can’t let you get yourself killed in order to sedate your thirst for revenge.”

“I don’t give a damn about our future,” Vlad stood. “The clans could all be dust for all I care.”

“You don’t mean that,” Dracu said.

“I do,” Vlad said. “I hate vampires, I hate slayers, and this whole world would be better off if we never existed.”

Dracu smiled, “This world is ours to control. I don’t think you realize the opportunity you have here.”

Vlad continued to appear uninterested.

“You want to avenge your mother, fine,” Dracu said. “Allow me to help you in that. I told you I can teach you our history and share my knowledge and power. With my help you could eradicate this planet of slayers and become the ruler you were born to be. Create a world how you want it to be.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Vlad was curious about the offer. He had been given a similar speech when he first met his former tutor Bertrand. 

“It’s not,” Dracu said. “You can’t do it alone and I don’t know how long it will take, but with my help your odds are much greater.”

“And what do you want in return?” Vlad said. “Truthfully.”

Dracu smirked, “Do you think I would have imprisoned myself for so long if I wasn’t committed to you? But I would hope that you would remember me when you sat on the throne.”

Vlad chuckled, “But you’re forgetting something. I don’t want to sit on the throne. I don’t want to rule over vampires.”

“Now that’s the worst lie I ever heard,” Dracu said. “You may believe that now, but you’ll see. Once you get a taste of leadership, the power status gives you, you’ll want more.”

Vlad doubted it. He never saw himself as any sort of leader.

“You tell me then,” Dracu said. “What is it that you want?”

“Like I would tell you,” Vlad rolled his eyes.

Dracu frowned, “ I was honest with you. You could at least show me the same courtesy.”

Vlad thought about it. His interests had recently shifted so he didn’t have a really good answer. 

“The slayers,” Vlad said. “It’s not just my mom. They’ll come after me and my family. I can’t let them.”

“Then we start there.”


	20. Chapter 20

Telling George that she would never see her mom again was the hardest thing Vlad had ever done. He never got the chance to tell her what had happened before she screamed and cried. All he knew to do was just hold her and wait for her to stop. 

She only did after falling asleep. 

Vlad closed the door to her room and joined everyone else in the living room of the hotel suite they were staying at. They were debating on what to do. Vlad laid down on one of the empty couches to listen in.

“I’m not moving to Australia,” Ingrid said. “That’s too far from Europe and I’m on the High Council.” 

“I always forget they let someone like you join them,” the Count teased.

“I like France,” Piers said. 

“Too much garlic,” the Count said. 

“What about home?” Vlad asked looking up at the ceiling.

“Stokely Castle burned down,” Ingrid reminded him.

Vlad sat up, “Not Stokely. I mean our old home. Transylvania. Ingrid wouldn’t have to travel much for council meetings and we would have the home field advantage against the slayers.” 

“I’d be fine with that,” Ingrid said. 

“I guess I do miss the culture there,” the Count said. “All in favor of moving to Transylvania?” 

Everyone raised their hands even Dracu who seemed completely uninterested in the conversation at that point.

“It’s settled then,” the Count declared. 

* * *

Mina sat in the hospital room with her son who was in a coma. He was one of the few survivors of a vampire attack that killed many of her companions.

She hadn’t been there during the attack. Others who survived weren’t sure what happened. Many did confirm that Jonno had just returned from a mission with a few others and they were attacked almost immediately after. Her son was the only survivor from that mission. A mission that had not been recorded at all. 

“Wake up soon,” she held her son's hand. “I don’t think I can handle losing you too.”

* * *

Piers, Renfield and Vlad loaded the last of the luggage in the van. Most of the things they had at Garside had been placed into storage. The Count would arrange for everything to be moved to Transylvania later.

“I think we are ready to get on the road,” Piers said. “I’ll wait in the van.” 

Renfield watched Piers walk away listening to his heartbeat. Vlad appeared directly in front of him with his arms crossed, startling Renfield. “Don’t even think about it.” Renfield hurried back to his Master. Vlad laughed to himself wondering how Renfield had survived this long as a vampire. 

He looked up and saw George leaning over the hotel room’s railing.He made sure to not scare his sister when appearing next to her so that she would see him coming. 

“Feeling any better?” He asked.

“My stomach still hurts,” George said.

“You should eat something. I can get you whatever you want.” 

George still looked down at the parking lot, “Later.”

Vlad wasn’t sure what to say that would help her. He also didn’t want to leave her alone. 

“So what did happen to mom?” George finally asked.

“The slayers did attack like we thought,” he explained. “We almost got away but we were stopped just outside. One of them had a gun.” Vlad paused before continuing. “She was killed trying to save me.” 

George finally looked up at him, “She saved you?”

Vlad smiled at her.

George hugged him, “She’s a hero then.” 

“Yeah, she is.” 

They sat down on the sofa in the hotel room, and Vlad let George tell him stories about their mom. He also finally got her to at least eat some chips he got from a vending machine. She cried through most of the stories, but talking seemed to be helping her a lot.

Ingrid appeared in the doorway and told them Piers was ready to go. The Count, Renfield and Dracu had gone on ahead but the rest would be traveling in Piers’ van.

Vlad and George started to walk toward the elevators, but then she thought of something. “Can’t you fly out the window?”

“Yes,” Vlad said.

“Can we go that way?”

Vlad held on to George as they flew down. When they landed, he made sure no one had seen. 

“That was amazing,” she laughed as she hopped in the van. 

Once she was out of earshot, Ingrid asked, “So are you gonna tell her about your new eating habits?” 

“No, right now she just needs me to be her brother and I can’t do that if she knows I’m hunting breathers. Not really a good trait for a role model.” 

“Probably not,” Ingrid agreed. “What are you going to do about VanHelsing?”

“I’ll think about it, but I think he’s suffered enough for now,” Vlad smiled. “Which reminds me, thank you for saving me.”

“Consider us even,” Ingrid smiled remembering that he had saved her from the slayers before. “What was it like using that power?”

“I felt more like it was controlling me,” Vlad said. “Like I couldn’t stop it at a certain point and it would just keep destroying everything around me.”

“That’s worrisome,” Ingrid said. “Think it could happen again?”

Vlad looked unsure. “As much as I hate to admit it, Dracu was right about me needing to learn to control my powers. I don’t trust him to teach me though.”

Vlad had tried talking to him more about the prophecy and whatever else he knew, but Dracu denied him any more information unless Vlad agreed to work with him. 

“I would be concerned if you did,” Ingrid said. “We could dust him, but I think even you are smart enough at this point to wait and see what happens. He could be useful.”

“Maybe,” Vlad said. “But he won’t want to help without some reward.”

“Golden rule of vampires,” Ingrid laughed. “We all want power and blood.”

“Speaking of, want to go for a hunt at the first stop on the trip?”

“I thought you would never ask,” Ingrid said.


End file.
